NPR quits Twitter over having its ‘credibility’ undermined
Twitter labelled the NPR account as ‘government-funded media’ when its US government funding accounts for less than 1% of its budget.
The US-based National Public Radio (NPR) has announced it will quit Twitter after an issue over how its account is described. The social media platform labelled the NPR account as ‘government-funded media’ when, in reality, the not-for-profit news organisation only receives US government funding for less than 1% of its budget.
NPR said Twitter was undermining its credibility, as US government funding accounts for less than 1% of its budget. NPR became the first major US news outlet to leave the platform, despite having 8.8 million followers. Elon Musk reacted to the decision in a series of tweets criticising NPR.
The decision to leave Twitter came after the BBC objected to being labelled as ‘government-funded media’. The label on the BBC’s account was updated to ‘publicly-funded media’.
About author
DW Team
The GIP Digital Watch Observatory team, consisting of over 30 digital policy experts from around the world, excels in the fields of research and analysis on digital policy issues. The team is backed by the creative prowess of Creative Lab Diplo and the technical expertise of the Diplo tech team.