Twitter slaps ‘government funded media’ labels on other major news outlets after NPR backlash

Twitter has slapped a number of news organizations that receive public funding with a “government funded media” label, after drawing sharp backlash last week for labeling NPR’s account with a “state-affiliated media” tag.

NPR responded to the label by saying it would no longer tweet from its account of 8.8 million followers until the label was removed. The NPR account has remained inactive despite Twitter changing the label from “state-affiliated” to “government funded” over the weekend.

NPR technology reporter Bobby Allyn tweeted on Saturday that Musk told him the platform would be applying the “government funded” label “to a larger number of institutions.”

The label now appears on outlets that receive some government funding, including BBC, PBS and Voice of America. However, it does not appear on other government-backed outlets, such as Canada’s CBC or Qatar’s Al Jazeera.

The BBC was quick to push back against the categorization.

“We are speaking to Twitter to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” BBC said in a statement to The Hill. “The BBC is, and always has been, independent.”

“PBS’s editorial independence is central to our work, and will never change,” a spokesperson said. “Twitter’s simplistic label leaves the inaccurate impression that PBS is wholly funded by the federal government. PBS is primarily funded by the public and philanthropic organizations, with only a small portion of our funding coming from entities affiliated with government.”

A VOA spokesperson criticized the label as being “potentially misleading.”

“The label ‘government funded’ is potentially misleading and could be construed as also government-controlled’ – which VOA is most certainly not,” the spokesperson said. “Our editorial firewall, enshrined in the law, prohibits any interference from government officials at any level in its news coverage and editorial decision making process.”

The Hill has reached out to NPR for comment on the new label.

The “state-affiliated” label had put NPR on par with other state-run media outlets like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua, and NPR President and CEO John Lansing blasted the label in a statement last week.

“NPR and our Member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” he wrote.

NPR receives a small fraction of its funding from the federal government, while a vast majority of its resources come from private sponsorships and user contributions.

The label from Twitter even sparked backlash from the White House, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying “there’s no doubt of the independence of NPR’s journalists.”

The label for “government funded media” does not provide an explanation for how Twitter defines such an organization.

Critics of the move have pointed out that Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s other companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have received billions in government funding, grants and subsidies throughout the years, but neither of them have a “government funded” label on their Twitter accounts.

Updated at 4:59 p.m.