WASHINGTON (WTVO) — The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced Thursday that it would be quitting Twitter alongside National Public Radio (NPR) after the social media service labeled both organizations as government-funded media.
“PBS stopped tweeting from our account when we learned of the change and we have no plans to resume at this time,” a spokesman for the organization told The Hill. “We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.”
Twitter also uses the label to identify state-funded propaganda outlets from Russia and China.
According to Bloomberg, the social media company originally labeled both companies as “state-affiliated media” but changed the wording to “government-funded media,” which NPR described as inaccurate and misleading.
NPR says it is a nonprofit organization with editorial independence that receives a portion of its backing from taxpayers.
Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion last year and made several changes to the platform, including holding the blue check verification system on a paid basis.
“Guess they won’t mind losing federal funding in that case,” Musk tweeted after NPR’s departure. “Defund NPR,” he said in another.