Elon Musk designates several media orgs as 'state affiliated' on Twitter; some hit back

Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday started to label the accounts as US state-affiliated media attracting backlash from the media organisations. National Public Radio (NPR), the Russian network RT and China’s Xinhua News Agency were among the broadcasters whose official Twitter handle was labelled as state-affiliated. BBC was added to the list of exceptions but its Twitter account designation remains unchanged. US-based NPR has been boycotting Twitter's designation and arguing that Twitter is in violation of its own policy and does not get to determine which companies receive this label. Musk, however, has categorised several media firms basis the government funding received. It is learned that Twitter, as of now, is treating NPR as an exception too. 

 “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,” the Twitter policy says. 

US-based broadcasters, Elon Musk tussle over state affiliation

Twitter's policy argues that both NPR and the BBC organisations receive a considerable amount of state financing. NPR reporter David Gura argued that the US-based broadcaster received less than 1% of its annual operating budget from the government. Gura, according to the screenshots he posted on Twitter, also claimed that the broadcaster has editorial independence. Some of the other broadcasters who also receive state funding Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Flemish VRT NWS have not been designated. NPR’s CEO and president, John Lansing, in a statement, slammed Musk's new reform of the media handles. He labelled the change as “unacceptable”.

“NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” Lansing said in a statement. “NPR stands for freedom of speech & holding the powerful accountable. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy," the statement further noted. 

The spat between the American news outlets and Twitter is worsening after the prominent American newspaper New York Times, last month, said that it will not be a part of Elon Musk's pay-to-play verification policy. Musk rolled out the subscription for the blue check marks that many celebrities condemned. SpaceX CEO in response shared a meme about the New York Times newspaper's decision. It is also learnt that Twitter has been responding to all press requests for a comment with a poop emoji.  Twitter’s official press email prompts an automatic reply since Tesla CEO Musk purchased the microblogging site for $44 billion last year.