PBS to Also Stop Using Twitter Over “Government-Backed Media” Label

PBS has joined NPR in quitting Elon Musk’s Twitter after the social media network labeled both organizations as “government-backed media.”

According to Bloomberg, PBS has chosen to discontinue its use of the social media site after the latter referred to both it and NPR as “government-backed media.”

“PBS stopped tweeting from our account when we learned of the change and we have no plans to resume at this time,” said PBS spokesman Jason Phelps in an email. “We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.”

The issue began when Twitter labeled NPR as “state-affiliated media,” a phrase frequently used to describe propaganda accounts from countries such as China and Russia. Then, Twitter amended the wording to “government-funded media,” but it wasn’t enough to appease the platform’s detractors on the left.

In reaction to the issue, Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, noted NPR’s reliance on US government financing, despite the fact that just a small fraction of the Washington-based organization’s funding comes from federal agencies. “Guess they won’t mind losing federal funding in that case,” Musk said in one tweet. “Defund NPR,” the billionaire wrote in another.

Elon Musk has been making big improvements to the network since acquiring Twitter for $44 billion last year. One of them is the authentication procedure for journalists, celebrities, and other well-known Twitter users.

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