Twitter walked back labeling National Public Radio’s (NPR) account as “state-affiliated media” after facing public pressure.
The social media platform replaced the label for NPR’s account and with the term, “government-funded media.”
NPR was given on April 4 the same label as foreign state media outlets like Russian state-controlled TASS, RT, and Xinhua, the Chinese Communist Party’s official state news agency.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk seemed to have endorsed the initial new designation for NPR, stating last week in a tweet, “Seems accurate,” in response to the label.NPR Officials Condemn New Twitter Description
NPR president and CEO John Lansing released a statement condemning the initial designation.“We were disturbed to see last night that Twitter has labeled NPR as ‘state-affiliated media,’ a description that, per Twitter’s own guidelines, does not apply to NPR,” Lansing objected on April 5.
