JUST IN: Elon Musk PUNISHES The New York Times For Fake News

Elon Musk’s ongoing war with the New York Times escalated overnight after users noticed the newspaper’s account on X had its gold verification badge removed, a change that sources say was unexpected and was not explained by Musk.

Following Musk’s acquisition of the platform once known as Twitter, legacy accounts for the Times and other mainstream media outlets were granted the gold badge, a designation that separates official accounts from dozens or hundreds of imposters. The removal of the Times’ badge comes days after Musk accused the paper of supporting “calls for genocide” around the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“[I]f ever there was a time to cancel that publication, it is now,” he added.

A recent dispute over which side in the war was responsible for bombing a hospital in Gaza led the Times to originally run a headline accusing Israel and citing only Palestinian sources. Evidence later uncovered by Israel and verified by U.S. intelligence arms indicated the explosion was caused by a misfired rocket by Hamas. The revelation led the Times to readjust its headline multiple times.

BREAKING: NEW YORK TIMES CHANGES HEADLINES 3 TIMES AFTER ISRAELI PROPAGANDA- ZIONIST CONTROL OF THE MEDIA

“Israel strike KILLS hundreds in hospital”

Then

“At least 500 dead in STRIKE on Gaza hospital”

Then

“At least 500 dead in BLAST at Gaza hosptial” pic.twitter.com/5JVgMyMtZR

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) October 17, 2023

Days after Musk called for the Times’ cancellation, X implemented a five-second delay on users’ access to Times articles through his platform. Sources told The Washington Post that the Times’ traffic from X is down 50 percent since August. Musk claimed the change was made to encourage users to stay on X rather than clicking through to other sites.