Twitter adds the label according to an account’s engagement in “geopolitics and diplomacy.”
QUICK FACTS:
- Twitter recently labeled news organization NPR (National Public Radio) a “US state-affiliated media.”
- “Labels on government accounts provide additional context for accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy,” Twitter’s guidelines read.
- “Labels on state-affiliated accounts provide additional context about accounts that are controlled by certain official representatives of governments, state-affiliated media entities and individuals associated with those entities,” the guidelines continue.
- Twitter defines state-affiliated media 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. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled.”
- “In the case of state-affiliated media entities, Twitter will not recommend or amplify accounts or their Tweets with these labels to people,” the guidelines add. “In limited circumstances where there is heightened risk for harm, including situations where governments block access to information on the internet in the context of an armed conflict, Twitter will also not recommend or amplify certain government accounts or their Tweets with these labels to people.”
NPR FINANCING:
- “Federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers,” NPR claims on its website.
- “The loss of federal funding would undermine the stations’ ability to pay NPR for programming, thereby weakening the institution,” the website adds.
- As The Hill reports: “NPR does not receive any direct funding from the U.S. government, but it does get some funding in the form of dues from local member stations. And in many cases, those member stations receive federal funds from grants provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In 2021 alone, CPB appropriated nearly $70 million in grants via member stations.”
BACKGROUND:
- NPR President John Lansing tweeted in response to Twitter’s move, “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 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,” the statement continued. “It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.”
