This is first for Twitter: the abandonment of the platform by a major outlet. In this case, NPR, the American public radio, which publishes an article on this subject on April 12. This decision follows the recent addition of a warning attached to his Twitter profile, evoking “government” funding. A configured item in August 2020but that until then it was reserved for media whose editorial line is controlled by certain authoritarian states, such as Russia and China.
NPR, like the BBC
On Twitter, NPR posted messages inviting netizens to read its content on other platforms. The outlet explains that it regrets having been qualified “in the same terms used for the Russian, Chinese or other autocratic countries’ propaganda media.”
NPR’s 52 general and topical accounts will remain active on Twitter, but no new content will be posted there. His main account (@NPR) is followed by some 8.8 million Internet users.
For NPR, the qualifier posted by Twitter is “false and misleading” since only 1% of the non-profit organization’s $300 million budget comes from US federal funds.
The American public medium is not the only one whose editorial independence is questioned by Twitter: in the United Kingdom, the BBC’s Twitter account has also been modified in this regard. At the same time, Elon Musk decided to put an end to the algorithmic sanctions linked to this classification, which implied limits in terms of visibility. An action that, therefore, directly benefited the Russian or Chinese state media.
NPR’s choice comes after multiple tensions between Elon Musk and the media, which he wants to pay for certification badges, in order to bail out the platform’s coffers.
recently addressed the New York Times, after temporarily blocking the account of journalists critical of him. Showing himself as a fervent defender of freedom of expression, Elon Musk has launched an automatic response system to any request from a journalist by email: a “poop” emoji.
Source: BFM TV
