Twitter Adds ‘State

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 17: The House of Representatives voted 228-192 to ban local public radio ... [+] stations from using federal funds to pay for National Public Radio, effectively cutting off 40-percent of NPR's revenue, March 17, 2011 in Washington, DC. The legislation now moves to the Democrat-controlled Senate where it is unlikely to pass. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Twitter added a warning to NPR's Twitter account on Tuesday, declaring it as "state-affiliated media," a label that's typically been reserved for foreign media outlets that represent the official views of the government, like Russia's RT and China's Xinhua.

In fact, several people on Twitter pointed out that the social media company specifically said that news outlets like NPR are not state-affiliated media because they have editorial independence, despite getting some funds from the government.

"State-affiliated media is 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," Twitter's Help Center reads.

The explanation on Twitter's website went on to call out NPR as an outlet that didn't deserve the state-affiliated label. At least until recently.

"Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy," the Help Center continued.

That's what it used to say as of Tuesday morning, according to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. The website still mentions the BBC but the reference to NPR was deleted sometime Tuesday.

Twitter responded to a request for comment late Tuesday with a poop emoji, an automated response set up by CEO Elon Musk. The billionaire, who bought Twitter back in October and took it private, has a combative relationship with the press.

"We were disturbed to see last night that Twitter has labeled NPR as ‘state-affiliated media,’ a description that, per Twitter's own guidelines, does not apply to NPR," NPR's President and CEO John Lansing said in a statement over email.

"NPR and our Member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide. NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable. It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy," Lansing continued.

Russia's RT and China's Xinhua have been listed as state-affiliated media for years, though Musk has privately expressed an interest in RT and its take on the news. Texts between the billionaire and several associates were made public as part of Twitter's lawsuit against Musk last year, and one text exchange with Antonio Gracias, the former Director of Tesla from 2007 to 2021, mentioned RT.

"EU passed a law banning Russia Today and several other Russian news sources. We have been told to block their IP address," Musk texted Gracias.

"Actually, I find their news quite entertaining," Musk continued. "Lot of bullshit, but some good points too."