WASHINGTON DC – MARCH 17, 2017: House of Representatives voted 228 to 192 in favor of banning local public radio … [+]
Twitter added a warning to NPR’s Twitter account on Tuesday, declaring it as “state-affiliated media,” a label that’s typically been reserved for foreign media outlets that represent the official views of the government, like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua.
Twitter has many users. pointed outThe social media company stated that NPR news outlets aren’t state-affiliated because of their editorial independence, even though they receive some funding from the government.
“State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution,” Twitter’s Help Center reads.
The explanation on Twitter’s website went on to call out NPR as an outlet that didn’t deserve the state-affiliated label.
“Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy,” the Help Center continued.
That’s what it used to say as of Tuesday morning, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. While the BBC is still mentioned on the website, NPR has been removed sometime after Tuesday.
Twitter replied to Tuesday’s request for comments with an emoticon that said “poop” (an automated reply set up by Elon Musk). He has had a hostile relationship with the media since October when he bought Twitter.
Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua have been listed as state-affiliated media for years, though Musk has privately expressed an interest in RT and its take on the news. Texts between the billionaire and several associates were made public as part of Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk last year, and one text exchange with Antonio Gracias, the former Director of Tesla from 2007 to 2021, mentioned RT.
“EU passed a law banning Russia Today and several other Russian news sources. We have been told to block their IP address,” Musk texted Gracias.
“Actually, I find their news quite entertaining,” Musk continued. “Lot of bullshit, but some good points too.”
