Twitter has begun implementing state affiliations labels to United States media. As we confirmed in a tweet earlier today, Twitter added a state-affiliated media label to NPR accounts.
In the tweet, Kim Dotcom noted that a few months ago he suggested to Twitter CEO Elon Musk that state affiliation should not just be added to foreign media but also to United States state-affiliated media.
What is State-Affiliated Media?
According to the social media platform’s guidelines, Labels on government accounts provide additional context for accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy. Labels on state-affiliated accounts provide additional context about accounts that are controlled by certain official representatives of governments, state-affiliated media entities, and individuals associated with those entities.
The state-affiliated media category includes outlets where a government exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. Meanwhile, it doesn’t include outlets that receive government funding but maintains editorial independence.
Before Elon Musk’s acquisition, Twitter announced in 2020 that it will label the accounts of government officials and state-affiliated media outlets. The move comes following similar policies from other social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube.
Upon his acquisition, the microblogging site has been making constant changes ranging from the introduction of Twitter Blue, an $8 paid subscription for users, to the introduction of gold and silver ticks, reinstating controversial accounts, and many more.
Just earlier this year, the billionaire CEO, changed his Twitter bio to state-affiliated media after mentioning that the social media platform should have that label. According to him, technically, Twitter should have that label.
However, several people have been reacting to the label added to NPR accounts on Twitter. They pointed out that news outlets like NPR are not state-affiliated media because they have editorial independence, despite getting some funds from the government.
