{"id":568957,"date":"2023-04-05T22:31:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T19:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/twitter-bucking-its-own-policy-adds-state-affiliated-media-label-to-npr-account\/"},"modified":"2023-04-05T22:31:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T19:31:49","slug":"twitter-bucking-its-own-policy-adds-state-affiliated-media-label-to-npr-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/twitter-bucking-its-own-policy-adds-state-affiliated-media-label-to-npr-account\/","title":{"rendered":"#Twitter, Bucking Its Own Policy, Adds \u201cState-Affiliated Media\u201d Label to NPR Account"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n Twitter<\/a> on Tuesday evening affixed a \u201cstate-affiliated media\u201d label \u2014 a marker used to help users identify outlets that are editorially controlled by governments \u2014 to NPR\u2019s main account, despite previous policy guidelines specifically noting NPR did not fall under that category.<\/p>\n

\n In a statement shared on Wednesday, NPR CEO John Lansing described the move as \u201cunacceptable\u201d and inapp<\/a>licable to NPR, which receives member support from listeners and provides \u201cindependent, fact-based journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe were disturbed to see last night that Twitter has labeled NPR as \u2018state-affiliated media,\u2019 a description that, per Twitter\u2019s own guidelines, does not apply to NPR,\u201d Lansing said. \u201cNPR 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n NPR did not receive any prior communication from Twitter on Tuesday regarding the label, and requests to have it removed have not been answered, NPR\u2019s chief communications officer, Isabel Lara, told The Hollywood Reporter.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n According to Twitter\u2019s guidelines, state-affiliated media outlets are defined<\/a> as those \u201cwhere the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and\/or control over production and distribution.\u201d Outlets like Russia Today <\/em>and China\u2019s Xinhua News<\/a> have received such labels on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\n Prior to Tuesday\u2019s change, the guidelines also noted that \u201cstate-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.\u201d As of Wednesday, the reference to NPR has been removed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n Organizations like PEN America have called on Twitter to remove the label from NPR\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cPublicly available sources indicate about 15 percent of NPR\u2019s overall budget includes taxpayer funds authorized by Congress, and make clear that the U.S. government exercises no editorial control over NPR whatsoever. For Twitter to unilaterally label NPR as state-affiliated media, on par with Russia Today, is a dangerous move that could further undermine public confidence in reliable news sources,\u201d Liz Woolery, PEN America\u2019s digital policy lead, said. \u201cIt\u2019s a gift to disinformation purveyors and to authoritarian regimes the world over. Twitter should reverse course and remove this designation from NPR immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n