New York Times loses Twitter blue tick after refusing to pay for verification

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has removed the blue verification badge for the major media outlet The New York Times after they said that they would not pay the monthly subscription fee. Musk reacted to a Twitter user’s meme on the media outlet’s statement and said, “Oh ok, we’ll take it off then.” Elon Musk had earlier issued a statement saying that legacy blue verification badges will be removed from April 1 onwards.

According to Hindustan Times, a spokesperson from The New York Times told journalists in America that they have “no plans to pay the monthly fee to obtain verified checkmarks.” The spokesperson also said that they will not reimburse journalists from their organisation if they chose to pay for the subscription except in “rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes.” Other news organisations in the USA like the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Vox Media also said that they would not be paying for their verification badges.

Apart from The New York Times, several other organisations and celebrities have refused to pay a fee to keep their verification badges including basketball player LeBron James, and the White House. However, the White House, the President and the Vice-President of the USA will have grey check marks which have been assigned for government accounts. The basketball player took to Twitter to say that he will not be paying $8 per month to keep his blue verification badge. 

Welp guess my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5. ‍♂️

— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 31, 2023