WASHINGTON 鈥� National Public Radio is quitting Twitter after the social media platform stamped NPR's account with labels the news organization says are intended to undermine its credibility.
Twitter " a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China. Twitter later changed the label to 鈥済overnment-funded media,鈥� but to NPR 鈥� which relies on the government for a tiny fraction of its funding 鈥� it鈥檚 still misleading.
NPR said in a statement on Wednesday that it 鈥渨ill no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent.鈥�
鈥淒efund @NPR,鈥� was Musk's tweeted response. His latest tiff with a news organization reflects a gamble for the social media platform he bought last year.
Twitter, more than any of its rivals, has said its users come to it to keep track of current events. That made it an attractive place for news outlets to share their stories and reinforced Twitter鈥檚 moves to combat the spread of misinformation. But Musk has long expressed disdain for professional journalists and said he wants to elevate the views and expertise of the 鈥渁verage citizen."
The Public Broadcasting Service said Wednesday it has also stopped tweeting from its main account and that the public TV organization has no plans to resume because 鈥淭witter鈥檚 simplistic label leaves the inaccurate impression that PBS is wholly funded by the federal government."
Media analysts say growing friction between Twitter and news organizations since Musk bought the platform is bad for Twitter, and bad for the public.
"It鈥檚 a shame to have proceeded in a direction where, intentionally or otherwise, Twitter is categorizing Russian propaganda outlets in a similar way to very legitimate news sources that get a very modest amount of funding from the U.S. government,鈥� said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
This is just the latest example of Musk tangling with mainstream news organizations. He of individual journalists who wrote about Twitter late last year, claiming some were trying to reveal his location.
Twitter earlier in April on the main account of The New York Times, singling out the newspaper and disparaging its reporting after it said it would not pay Twitter for verification of its institutional accounts.
Twitter used to tag journalists and other high-profile accounts with blue check marks to verify their identity and distinguish them from imposters. But Musk has derided the marks as an undeserved status symbol and plans to take them away from anyone not buying a premium subscription. Those cost as little as $8 a month for individuals and a minimum of $1,000 a month for organizations.
Barrett said Musk appears to be intent on 鈥渋nsulting and antagonizing individuals and organizations that he considers to be too liberal for his taste.鈥� But by driving away legitimate news outlets, Twitter is only harming itself, he said.
鈥淭he drift is in an unfortunate direction," Barrett said. 鈥淵ou want to encourage sources of reliable, well-reported news to be present and prolific on your platform.鈥�
NPR鈥檚 main account, which joined Twitter in 2007, had not tweeted since April 4. On Wednesday, it sent a series of tweets listing other places to find its journalism.
NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara said its journalists, employees and member stations can decide on their own if they want to keep using the platform. NPR journalists have not been given the 鈥済overnment-funded鈥� label, at least not yet.
NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company has said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR鈥檚 annual operating budget. Much of its funding comes from sponsorships and dues from its member stations around the U.S., which in turn get revenue from a range of funders including public institutions, corporate donors and listeners.
Twitter鈥檚 new labels have often appeared arbitrarily assigned. For example, Twitter hasn't added the 鈥済overnment-funded鈥� label for many other public broadcasting organizations, such as those in Canada and Australia. It also has changed some labels without explanation, such as when it removed a 鈥淯nited Arab Emirates state-affiliated media鈥� tag from the profile of Abu Dhabi鈥檚 The National newspaper earlier this year.
In an interview Tuesday with a BBC technology reporter at Twitter鈥檚 San Francisco headquarters, Musk acknowledged that the British organization 鈥渋s not thrilled鈥� about the label it received and asked the reporter for feedback.
鈥淥ur goal was simply to be as truthful and accurate as possible,鈥� Musk said. 鈥淪o I think we鈥檙e adjusting the label to be 鈥榩ublicly funded,' which I think is perhaps not too objectionable. We鈥檙e trying to be accurate.鈥�
The BBC said Wednesday it would welcome a move to change the label to 鈥減ublicly funded鈥� instead of government-funded.
The literary organization PEN America said news organizations are making understandable responses to Twitter鈥檚 鈥渦npredictable and capricious鈥� decisions but the loss to consumers will be significant.
Liz Woolery, PEN America鈥檚 digital policy leader, said 鈥淢usk鈥檚 approach to managing Twitter has come at the expense of information integrity and user trust, and it has only made it harder for users to sift through the maelstrom of online content to find what is credible.鈥�
___
AP Writers David Bauder and Kelvin Chan contributed to this report.
Matt O'brien, The Associated Press
