NPR has pushed back against a label applied by Twitter that calls the organization “state-affiliated media”.
NPR called the label, which is usually reserved for outlets in countries that “exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution,” like RT in Russia and Xinhua in China which are labeled with the same tag, unacceptable.
“We were disturbed to see last night that Twitter has labeled NPR as ‘state-affiliated media’,” said NPR President and CEO John Lansing in a statement. He said the tag is “a description that, per Twitter’s own guidelines, does not apply to NPR.”
Twitter’s previous guidelines used to include a distinction between “state-affiliated media” and “state-financed media”, claiming that organizations like the BBC and NPR have “editorial independence”.
However, Twitter secretly altered its guidelines to remove mention of NPR having the same “editorial independence” as the BBC.
NPR receives on average no more than 1% of its annual budget from the federal government. The outlet contends it is an independent, non-profit media organization.
When Twitter labels an account as “state-affiliated media”, it does not amplify any content created for the platform and does not recommend the account in searches or for users to potentially follow.
The move to classify NPR as “state-affiliated media” comes as Twitter owner Elon Musk continues to clash with media outlets.
While responding to the NPR label earlier this week, Musk said the description “seems accurate”.
