Musk’s Twitter Vow to Remove Verified Accounts Backfires as Only the New York Times Is Targeted

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Twitter recently announced that it would be winding down its old verification system and introduced a subscription service called Twitter Blue, where users can pay $8 per month to join and maintain their verification. However, there was confusion over the weekend when some high-profile users woke up to find that their verification marks had not disappeared, but instead, had been appended with a new label. This label states, “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account.” Unfortunately, this new label does not clearly distinguish between verified accounts of notable individuals and those who have paid for Twitter Blue.

In the midst of this confusion, one high-profile account, the New York Times, did lose its blue check. Elon Musk, who has expressed his dislike for the publication, responded to a tweet about the Times’ decision not to pay for verification by saying, “Oh ok, we’ll take it off then.” Musk proceeded to criticize the Times in a series of tweets, claiming that their coverage is boring and “propaganda.”

This incident highlights how Twitter’s feature changes can create confusion and uncertainty for users, particularly for high-profile accounts that have been a key selling point for the platform. It also underscores Elon Musk’s influence on the platform’s decisions, as he often appears to guide these decisions based on personal whims rather than established policies.

While the New York Times’ main account lost its verification, its other accounts for arts, travel, and books content remained verified. It is unclear why the New York Times does not have a gold “organizations” check mark like other news outlets such as the Associated Press and the Washington Post. The New York Times has reiterated that it does not plan to pay for verification.

Twitter has not yet responded to requests for comment on this matter. Additionally, in a puzzling move, Twitter replaced its blue bird logo with an image of the doge meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Elon Musk has promoted. This move coincided with a 20% increase in the price of dogecoin.

Elon Musk has been threatening to remove “legacy” blue check marks from users verified under Twitter’s old system since he acquired the platform last fall. Twitter initially launched the option for Twitter Blue subscribers to receive blue checks but had to put the program on pause due to numerous impersonators. It was relaunched in December. Musk has continued to assert that individual users will eventually have to pay for blue checks, despite the introduction of a color-coded verification system for companies and government entities.

Before the recent blue check purge, prominent users such as William Shatner and Monica Lewinksy pushed back against the idea of paying for a feature that protects them from impersonation, arguing that as power users, they should not have to bear this cost. Furthermore, experts have expressed concern that by obscuring the reason for verification, the new label could make it easier for scammers and impersonators to deceive high-profile users. Musk has previously stated that he wants to treat everyone equally and has presented these changes as a means of achieving that. The introduction of paid features could also generate revenue for Musk, who is dealing with significant debt after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion.

In addition to these changes, Musk has announced that starting on April 15, only verified accounts will be recommended in users’ “For You” feeds alongside the accounts they follow. This move further emphasizes the importance of verification on the platform.