NPR quits Elon Musk's Twitter over 'government-funded' label

WASHINGTON — National Public Radio is quitting Twitter over the social media company’s recent actions under owner Elon Musk to stamp it with labels the news organization says are meant to undermine its credibility.

“NPR’s organizational accounts will 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,” the news organization said in a statement Wednesday.

Last week, Twitter labeled NPR's main account as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a label also used to identify media outlets that are controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments. Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media” and gave it to at least one other public news organization, the BBC.

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” NPR's statement said.

NPR's chief communications officer, Isabel Lara, said in an email that “NPR journalists and employees will decide on their own if they wish to remain on the platform, same for NPR member stations as they’re independently owned and operated.”

NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget.

Twitter's help page had specifically mentioned NPR as not being state-sponsored. That language was removed after the label was applied.