Twitter Strips Check Mark for New York Times

Facts

• Twitter has removed its verification check mark from the site's main profile of the New York Times.¹
• Last month, Twitter owner Elon Musk announced that legacy verified users would have their blue ticks removed unless they paid the subscription fee for the site's new service, Twitter Blue, by April 1. It comes at a cost of $8 per month, while for organizations, the monthly rate is $1K.²
• However, as the deadline came and went, many organizations that had announced they wouldn't pay the fee alongside the Times — including outlets such as the Washington Post, CNN, and Politico — still had their check marks intact.³
• Some have speculated that Musk may be retaliating against the Times after learning of their decision from a post shared on his site. 'Oh ok, we'll take it off then,' he said.²
• According to two former Twitter employees, other organizations haven't had their verifications removed because it requires a manual process — meaning it could take weeks to remove the blue checks for all those who haven't upgraded to the new service.⁴
• A further reason, according to an internal Twitter document cited by the Times, was that the 10K most-followed organizations would be exempt from the rule anyway, meaning popular news sites were likely to be spared in either case.⁵
• Among those who also said they wouldn't pay for the new service is the White House. The decision doesn't necessarily apply to government agencies and it's expected that some individuals, such as the president and vice president, would retain their grey check marks — representing a government official — free of charge.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²Guardian, ³CNN, ⁴Washington Post, ⁵BBC News and ⁶Axios.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Bbc news. Musk should never have overhauled the legacy system, and his latest decision is a direct assault on the New York Times — a publication for which he's openly aired his dislike. After deciding to remove their verification, he hurled abuse at them, accusing them of spreading propaganda and stating that 'their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea.'
• Narrative B, as provided by Wall Street Journal. Twitter gave plenty of warning that those who failed to subscribe to the new service would lose their blue tick. The New York Times may be the first, but it won't be the last. The new subscription service — which also offers additional features such as the ability to edit tweets — is fairer than the classist old system and will rightly increase revenue.
• Narrative C, as provided by Sky news. While the issue surrounding legacy verification check marks sorts itself out, an immediate consequence is that it's no longer possible to distinguish between profiles that deserved the verification and those who paid for it. Celebrities and public figures often relied on check marks to avoid being confused with imposters. That reassurance is no longer available.