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Several news organizations go silent on Twitter after Elon Musk adds 'government-funded media' label to some accounts

Apr 18, 2023, 14:18 IST
Business Insider
Elon Musk's Twitter has added "government-funded media" labels to NPR and PBS, causing them to stop using the platform.Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
  • Some news organizations announced they're going silent on Twitter over "government-funded" labels.
  • NPR and PBS stopped tweeting from their accounts after Twitter labeled them as "government-funded."
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Elon Musk's decision to label some news organizations as "government-funded media" on Twitter has led to various outlets quitting the platform.

Twitter on Sunday added the label to some media accounts, including NPR and the BBC.

Following an interview with a BBC reporter on Tuesday, Musk changed the label on the BBC's Twitter account to "publicly funded media" instead of "government-funded."

NPR

NPR's "government-funded" label remains. The company announced it had stopped tweeting from its 52 Twitter feeds. CEO John Lansing said Twitter's actions were "exceptionally harmful and set a dangerous precedent."

Twitter's label has prompted at least four other news organizations to go silent on Musk's platform.

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PBS

Public Broadcasting Service, a US broadcaster, told Axios it stopped sharing posts from its Twitter account after the "government-funded media" label was added to its account over the weekend.

"We have no plans to resume tweeting," a spokesperson told Axios.

PBS hasn't tweeted from its main account since April 8.

WBUR

Margaret Low, CEO of WBUR, which is Boston's NPR affiliate, said the outlet was standing in solidarity with NPR and would stop posting on Twitter. Low said Twitter labeling NPR as government-funded was "misleading."

WBUR's last tweet on Wednesday shared information about where users can find its work.

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LAist

LAist, an outlet focused on Los Angeles news, tweeted on Wednesday that it supported NPR's decision to cease using its Twitter accounts and said it would do the same.

LAist wrote in another tweet the same day, which said the outlet stood by Lansing's comments that leaving Twitter would protect NPR's credibility.

"We'll see you everywhere else you get your news," LAist tweeted.

Hawaii Public Radio

Another media organization that will no longer be tweeting is Hawaii Public Radio. It said in a statement that Twitter labeling NPR as funded by the government "continues to imply an editorial relationship with our government that does not exist."

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, or CBC, said on April 17 it was pausing its activity on Twitter on Monday after the social media platform labeled the outlet "government-funded media."

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"Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue," CBC tweeted.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk changed CBC's label on the social media platform to "69% Government-funded Media" after he saw a Twitter thread featuring the broadcaster's fiscal report. It shows the media outlet receives 70% of its funding from the Canadian government.

"Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they're 'less than 70% government-funded,' so we corrected the label," Musk tweeted on Monday evening.

April 18, 2023: The article has been updated with new information about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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