Twitter has revised its designation of the U.S. radio network NPR, changing its label from “state-affiliated media” to “government-funded” following significant backlash.
The social media platform, owned by Elon Musk, has similarly assigned the “government-funded” label to the BBC, which primarily receives its funding from households in the UK through license fees.
Reports indicate that the BBC has sought clarification from Twitter regarding its labeling.
The adjustment in Twitter’s terminology for NPR, which is based in Washington, occurred quietly overnight on Saturday. This change came in response to NPR’s objections to the “state-affiliated” label, which it argued was misleading and derogatory.
Prior to this, Twitter had grouped NPR with media outlets from countries such as China and Russia that are directly controlled by their governments.
In reaction, NPR halted its tweeting activities. The radio network also updated its main Twitter profile to suggest users “find us everywhere else you read the news,” despite having over 8.8 million followers.
NPR’s CEO John Lansing characterized Twitter’s earlier decision as “unacceptable,” leading to a period of silence from the organization on the platform.
Other NPR-affiliated accounts, including those focused on music and politics, were not subjected to the “state-affiliated” label and continue to post updates.
The timing of Musk’s action against NPR came shortly after Twitter revoked the verified status of The New York Times, another organization often accused of left-leaning bias by some conservatives in the U.S.
Under Twitter’s policies, such labeling can reduce the visibility of tweets from the affected institutions, thereby impacting their outreach on a platform utilized by media entities, public figures, and officials for communication.
Elon Musk has long criticized mainstream media, evidenced recently by his implementation of an automatic response in the form of a poop emoji for emails directed to Twitter’s press address.
However, following NPR’s complaints, Musk indicated in a series of emails that the reclassification might not reflect the reality of NPR’s operations, revealing that Twitter would investigate the matter further.
“The operating principle at Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we label non-U.S. accounts as government, then we should do the same for the U.S., but it sounds like that might not be accurate here,” Musk wrote in communication with NPR.
According to NPR’s official website, while a portion of its budget does come from government sources, this amounts to less than one percent of its overall funding, which predominantly derives from fees paid by member stations supported by individual contributions.
