Elon Musk slams New York Times after publication loses Twitter verification badge: ‘It’s unreadable’

Twitter CEO Elon Musk poked fun at the New York Times on Sunday, calling the publication “unreadable” after it lost its blue verification badge on his social media platform. 

“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting,” Musk wrote in a tweet. 

“Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable,” Musk added. “They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles. Same applies to all publications.”

As of Sunday, a blue verification badge no longer appears on the Times’ main Twitter page, which has amassed nearly 55 million followers. 

Musk responded to a meme Saturday night saying “no one cares” about the Times refusing to pay for it’s verification, writing “Oh ok, we’ll take it off then.”

Twitter announced last month that it would begin phasing out its old verification system on April 1 and start removing “legacy” verified blue checks from users who aren’t paying for them.

To keep their blue verified checks, users will need to subscribe to Twitter Blue, the platform’s $8 per month subscription service. 

The Times, along with a number of other news organizations and high-profile Twitter users, has decided against paying for the check-mark that has previously been free to notable newsmakers and news outlets.

“We aren’t planning to pay the monthly fee for check mark status for our institutional Twitter accounts,” a Times spokesperson told The Hill in a statement on Sunday.  

“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. 

Twitter Blue got off to a rocky start in November after several accounts started impersonating public figures and companies, resulting in the company halting the subscription service for several weeks before relaunching it the next month. 

Updated: 3:12 p.m.