Twitter quietly altered its label for NPR on Saturday after getting complaints for days. Instead of "US State-affiliated Media," the label now reads "Government Supported Media."
The BBC and Voice of America also received the label.
On Tuesday, NPR stopped tweeting. That same day, Twitter gave NPR the label of "state-affiliated media," which is similar to the label given to China's heavily state-controlled media. On average, the federal government contributes less than one percent of NPR's annual budget.
John Lansing, CEO of NPR, stated, "NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable." Twitter should not be labeled in this manner. Our democracy depends on a free press that is active and vivacious.
According to Deadline, the BBC disagrees with the label "Government Funded Media" and has contacted Twitter to request its removal. The BBC has always operated independently. Through the license fee, the British public provides us with funding,” a spokesperson told Deadline.
Conservatives frequently target NPR for accusations of liberal bias. Tucker Carlson praised Musk as a "hero" on Fox News on Thursday for giving NPR the label of "state-affiliated media." That falls into the same category as China Central Television and Russia Today. This indicates that NPR is comparable to the Tehran Times, with the obvious exception of being less accurate and more anti-American,” Carlson stated.
The label seemed less certain to Musk himself. On Thursday, in an email conversation with NPR business reporter Bobby Allyn, Allyn made the observation that NPR was public media and not affiliated with the state. Musk retorted, "Well, then, we should fix it." Musk stated in response to Allyn's demand for a breakdown of NPR financing "Just fair and equal treatment is the guiding principle of the new Twitter, so if we name non-US accounts as government, we should do the same for US accounts. That might not be correct in this case, to be honest."
After removing the blue verification checkmark from the New York Times, which Musk has frequently criticized, Twitter sent the "state-affiliated media" to NPR. The Times has stated that it will not pay the monthly fee, despite the fact that prominent accounts had previously received the checkmark for free. Musk wrote earlier this month, "Their propaganda isn't even interesting" regarding the Times.
A page appears when you click on the "Government Funded Media" label, but the meaning of the label is currently unclear. However, Allyn claims that Musk stated that Twitter is "applying it to a greater number of institutions."
On Sunday, Fortune sought responses from Twitter and NPR, but neither organization responded immediately. Twitter's media relations team was disbanded in November, and the company no longer responds to media inquiries.
As of Sunday, NPR has not resumed tweeting.
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