By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- Twitter has recently added a label to National Public Radio’s account on the social network, calling it “U.S. state-affiliated media.”
This move comes amidst an announcement by Twitter regarding some sweeping changes in its policies under the ownership of Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year. While these changes have been unevenly enforced, they include modifications to the verification check mark system.
According to their guidelines, state-affiliated accounts are 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.” Other news media accounts that carry this label include RT from Russia and Xinhua from China.
Interestingly enough, cached versions of Twitter’s published policy showed that earlier in the day on Tuesday, NPR and BBC were not labeled as such because they were considered “state-financed media organizations with editorial independence.” However, later in the day this reference was deleted from that policy.
This labeling didn't sit well with John Lansing - Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NPR - who said in a statement that he was disturbed by what had happened. He added that "NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding powerful accountable."
Isabel Lara - Chief Communications Officer (CCO) at NPR - also noted how they weren't notified about any labeling until it appeared on their account page on Twitter. She further clarified that less than 1% of annual operating budget comes from grants provided by the government-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies or departments.
Elon Musk did not respond to requests for comment, and an email to Twitter’s communications department was returned with a poop emoji autoreply. The debate over Twitter's definition of state-affiliated accounts continues with NPR's labeling, and as of Wednesday afternoon, NPR’s sub-accounts on Twitter were not given the “U.S. state-affiliated media” label.
This labeling has re-ignited the debate about how policies around freedom of speech are being implemented and enforced under new ownership, and around editorial independence in news media organizations that strive to hold powerful entities accountable while maintaining freedom of speech.