Last month, NPR announced it would no longer use Twitter after Elon Musk labeled the outlet as “state-affiliated media”, before reversing course and tagging the account with a “government-funded media” label, which was subsequently dropped.
Now, in an email to an NPR reporter, Musk has threatened to give the account to another organization or person unless the company begins using the platform again.
In what the organization is calling an “unprompted” email, Musk asked, “So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?”
“Our policy is to recycle handles that are definitively dormant,” Musk wrote in another email. “Same policy applies to all accounts. No special treatment for NPR.”
Twitter’s terms of service do not count lack of tweeting as “inactivity”. Instead, it is based on how often the account is logged in, saying that users must sign into the account at least every 30 days before a handle can be removed for “prolonged inactivity”.
A reporter for NPR asked Musk who would be given the account should he remove it from the broadcaster.
“National Pumpkin Radio,” Musk reportedly replied with a fire and laughing emoji. “NPR isn’t tagged as government-funded media anymore, so what’s the beef?”
In announcing NPR’s decision to leave the platform last month, CEO John Lansing said he had lost faith in the “decision-making at Twitter”. The outlet took exception to the labels applied by Twitter, noting that less than 1% of its annual budget comes from federal funding.
