Twitter CEO Elon Musk called the New York Times “unreadable propaganda” after the publication refused to pay for verification.
The New York Times announced on Sunday that it will not pay a monthly fee to receive verified checkmark status on Twitter, just hours after the social media platform began removing the iconic blue checkmarks from accounts that had received the badge before Musk’s subscription system was introduced.
According to Twitter’s new policy, verified check marks are now only available through a paid subscription. According to Reuters, organizations will have to pay $1,000 per month to obtain gold check marks.
“We also will not reimburse reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts, except in rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” the spokesperson added.
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On Saturday, the New York Times @nytimes account lost its checkmark, which means its tweets will no longer appear in the ‘for you’ tab, the default timeline where Twitter users see content from accounts they follow.
Musk suggested in a tweet on Sunday that the disappearance of Tweets from the Times would be a minor inconvenience for most users.
In a Tweet, Elon musk criticized New York Times for not taking the paid subscription to get a varified checkmark.
“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting,” the billionaire declared. “Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.”
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
“They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles,” Musk continued, adding that the “same applies to all publications.”
The Times along with a number of US newspapers and news outlets are boycotting the paid verification system.
Also read: New York Times faces first major walkout since 1970s
American writer and political commentator Stephen Lendman said in an interview with Press TV said the New York Times is “a lying machine, an instrument of state-approved propaganda, notably on geopolitical issues.”
“It features US intelligence community press releases — rubbish masquerading as ‘all the news that’s fit to print’ that’s unfit to read,” he added.
Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter last October, promising a slew of reforms that would reverse the platform’s censorship policies and turn it into a “digital town square” for free and open debate.
Elon Reeve Musk is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of the Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the philanthropic Musk Foundation.
