After backlash, Twitter now calls NPR – and BBC – ‘government-funded’

Twitter has backtracked after an uproar for labelling the US radio network NPR as ‘state- affiliated media’ and also applying the label to Britain’s BBC

Musk has for years expressed disdain for the news media and recently installed a response of a poop emoji to emails sent to the site’s main press address

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A computer screen shows the label ‘US state-affiliated media’ on the Twitter account of National Public Radio (NPR). Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:42am, 10 Apr 2023

Twitter has backtracked after an uproar for labelling the US radio network NPR as “state- affiliated media” and now calls it “government-funded”.

Elon Musk’s social media network has also applied that new label to the BBC, which is funded predominantly by British households paying a licence fee.

Britain’s beloved national broadcaster has reached out to Twitter for clarification, news reports said.

The change in how Twitter refers to Washington-based National Public Radio happened quietly overnight on Saturday and comes after the network complained that the term “state-affiliated” was disparaging and inaccurate.

Twitter last week branded NPR in the same way as government-owned Chinese and Russian platforms.

In protest, NPR stopped tweeting. In its updated Twitter bio, NPR’s main account – which has more than 8.8 million followers – invited users to “find us every other place where you read the news.”

NPR CEO John Lansing said the decision by Twitter was “unacceptable” and the radio’s account has remained silent ever since.

Other accounts run by NPR, such as its music and politics handles, did not have the “state-affiliated” specification and have continued to post tweets.