Leading US daily New York Times loses Twitter verification badge

NEW YORK: In less than a week after Elon Musk declared Twitter's new policy for keeping verification badges, US's leading media house "The New York Times" lost its verification badge on Twitter on Sunday. Twitter announced that it will be doing away with the blue ticks for legacy verified accounts starting April 1.

The microblogging site will remove the verified check-mark status of accounts that Twitter had verified as notable before Elon Musk's takeover unless they have subscribed to Twitter Blue or the business-focused Twitter Verified Organizations plan, Variety reported.

The only individual Twitter users, who will have verified blue checkmarks, are those paying for Twitter Blue, which in the US costs USD 8/month via the web and USD 11/month through the in-app payment on iOS and Android. Earlier Thursday, the company announced that Twitter Blue was now available worldwide.

"On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue," Twitter posted from its official handle. Twitter, however, has not revealed how it will deal with the accounts of people who have "notable" mentioned on it. For companies and brands, Twitter recently introduced a gold check mark and has shifted government accounts to a grey check mark.

As previously indicated, a subscription to the social network's new Twitter Verified Organizations program in the US -- which will be the only way to keep a gold or grey check-mark badge -- will cost USD 1,000/month (plus tax) and USD 50/month (plus tax) for each additional affiliate subaccount.

Twitter first introduced verified accounts in 2009 to help users identify that celebrities, politicians, companies and brands, news organisations, and other accounts "of public interest" were genuine, not impostors or parody accounts. The company didn't previously charge for verification. Musk launched Twitter Blue with the check-mark badge as one of the premium perks within two weeks of the company's takeover.

The members of the White House will have to spend on their own in order to keep the blue verification checkmarks on Twitter, the White House informed its staffers on Friday via an email saying that won't be subscribing to Twitter Blue, New York Post reported. After Elon Musk took control of Twitter as the CEO, a change was announced regarding the blue checkmarks.

According to the new policy, Twitter plans to discontinue its long-running verified programme, removing the blue checkmarks from accounts that don't pay the USD 8 monthly subscription fee. The White House will join individuals like NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who won the Super Bowl, and NBA superstar Lebron James in refusing to continue paying the monthly price to be verified, New York Post reported.

After taking over the microblogging site, Musk announced the ability for users to purchase a blue tick verified through Twitter Blue. Despite getting internal warnings from Twitter's own trust and safety staff, Musk's plan resulted in the impersonation of high-profile accounts, including Twitter's advertisers, The Verge reported.

After Musk took over Twitter, the microblogging site has been adding and removing separate, grey checkmarks on high-profile accounts without explaining the reason. "It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide person-level verification as a service," White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty informed staffers via email, according to New York Post. "Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user. Staff may purchase Twitter Blue on their personal social media accounts using personal funds," Flaherty wrote in the email.