Elon Musk misleadingly quoted Twitter's guidelines while expressing approval of the label for NPR
US non-profit media organization NPR, an acronym for National Public Radio, was given the label of “US state-affiliated media” on its main Twitter $TWTR account of 8.8 million followers on Apr. 5. Other NPR-affiliated accounts remain label-free at the time of writing.
Twitter uses the label to warn users that some media outlets are not independent from the national government in their country of origin, and therefore the news they share may reflect political bias or other propagandistic efforts.
This is the case, for instance, with China’s CCTV and its affiliated channel CGTN, Beijing-based news channels created by the Chinese government and headed by a government minister. It’s also the case for RIA Novosti, Russia’s state-owned news agency, which was created by the Russian government and whose executives are hand picked by the Kremlin.
It is not entirely unusual for state-funded media outlets to have some links to the government, but they doesn’t mean they are under state control. Twitter’s guidelines make that clear, featuring both BBC and NPR as examples of media organizations that receive funds from the state but are not controlled by any government.
NPR CEO John Lansing noted the organization’s independent editorial line in reacting to the development. He said: “NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable. It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.”
“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. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their senior staff may be labeled. State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy.” —Twitter’s explanation of its state-affiliated media label, as of Apr. 6, 2023
The labeling of NPR as state-affiliated media goes appears to go against Twitter’s own policy, but CEO Elon Musk doesn’t seem to mind.
“Seems accurate” he replied to a Twitter user who complimented Musk for applying the label to NPR’s account. Musk attached to his tweet a screenshot of the first sentence of Twitter’s state-affiliated media guidelines, in a blatant example of inaccurate fact-checking.
NPR is the second US media organization whose credibility has been targeted by Twitter. The New York Times’ main Twitter account lost its verified badge on Sunday (Apr. 2). According to the Washington Post, the decision came directly from Musk, after he learned the publication had no intention of paying to retain the golden tick that had recently been assigned to accounts belonging to organizations.
❌ The New York Times’ Twitter account lost its verified tick
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