After Twitter labelled it as a "government-funded media," American media outlet NPR became the first major news organization to quit the platform. NPR said it would no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, including the primary @NPR handle, which has nearly 9 million followers. After the backlash from the move, Twitter changed the label on NPR's account to "government-funded media," similar to how it has labelled the BBC. However, NPR CEO John Lansing expressed his disappointment, saying he has lost faith in Twitter's decision-making and would need time to assess whether he can trust the platform again.
PBS has also followed NPR's lead and has not tweeted from its main Twitter handle since April 8 after the microblogging platform's CEO Elon Musk labelled the outlet "government-funded news." According to Twitter, the "government-funded" label applies to any news outlet that receives "some or all" funding from the government, which may have varying degrees of government involvement in editorial content. Musk has previously targeted mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times, followed by 55 million people, by removing their verified checkmarks.
NPR CEO John Lansing stated that by going silent on Twitter, the network is protecting its credibility and ability to produce journalism without "a shadow of negativity." Lansing expressed that "the downside, whatever the downside, doesn't change that fact. I would never have our content go anywhere that would risk our credibility."
In response, Musk posted, "What have you got against the truth, NPR?"
The move has brought attention to the issue of big tech companies labelling media outlets and raising questions about how they determine which organisations should receive such labels. The decision has also raised concerns about the role of government funding in media organizations and the impact it may have on their independence and editorial content.