NPR quits Twitter after being labeled as ‘state-affiliated media,’ becoming the first major U.S. news outlet to do so

National Public Radio (NPR) announced on Wednesday that it will stop sharing content on Twitter after the social media company labeled NPR “state-affiliated media.” a term Twitter used because the news outlet is funded by the US taxpayers. NPR is a national nonprofit media outlet created and funded by the US federal government.

NPR stated that its official Twitter accounts will no longer post new content on its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major U.S. news organization to do so since Elon Musk took over Twitter late last year.

NPR stated that it was surprised by Twitter’s decision to label the company “state-affiliated media.” The news organization said the label is “inaccurate and misleading” since NPR is an editorially independent nonprofit company, according to the report.

NPR “receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” the outlet wrote.

“We are officially deemphasizing Twitter across the organization,” NPR said in a statement, adding that it had made the decision after Twitter refused repeated requests to remove the “inaccurate label.” Elon Musk has not yet commented on the story.

Meanwhile, NPR is not alone. Twitter also labeled the British broadcaster BBC as “government-funded media” on the company’s main account, to which the news outlet has objected.