New York Times’ Threads account briefly closed, but the newspaper didn’t do it

The New York Times’s Threads account was briefly offline July 7 but did the newspaper shut it down, as some social media users claimed? 

"The New York Times has closed its main Threads account," a viral July 7 Threads post claimed. "If social media critics can cause that, imagine how quickly the NYT will fold under fascism."

The Threads post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads, and Instagram.)

Similar claims were also on X. One said, "New York Times can't take the heat. Deletes their Threads account after withering attacks in comments against their grotesquely biased Biden coverage."

Other social media users echoed the claim that the newspaper removed its account in response to pressure for its coverage of President Joe Biden. 

The New York Times’ Threads account went offline July 7. It is unclear why, or how long, the account was offline. Later that day, the account began posting again. "Threads, we’re back. We did not deactivate our account, and are working to understand what happened here," a July 7 post from The New York Times said.

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When contacted for comment, New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander told PolitiFact, "I don't have any additional comment to offer beyond our pinned post, and would reiterate that The Times did not deactivate our account."

PolitiFact contacted Meta to ask why the account was deactivated, but received no reply. Mike Isaac, a technology news reporter at The New York Times, wrote in a July 7 post on X that Instagram told him the account was taken down "in error." Threads accounts are linked to Instagram accounts, except in limited geographic areas.

We rate the claim that The New York Times closed its Threads account False.