NPR announced Wednesday it will no longer post content on Twitter after the social media company led by Elon Musk last week applied a label on its account reading “state-affiliated media” — a designation that was previously reserved for outlets controlled by governments in authoritarian countries.
“The platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” NPR said in a statement. “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence.”
Over the weekend, the social media platform updated the label on NPR’s main Twitter account to “Government-funded media,” a term that again doesn’t accurately reflect the nonprofit media organization’s funding. The organization receives just under 1% of its annual operating budget from the U.S. government.
NPR is now prompting its followers to keep up with its content by subscribing to its newsletters and app, or simply by following it on other social media platforms.
NPR CEO John Lansing said he has lost faith “in the decision-making at Twitter,” and clarified the company would not immediately return to the platform even if Musk chose to remove the label altogether.
“I would need some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again,” Lansing told NPR in an interview.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.