PBS has become the second major news organization to boycott Twitter after being labeled by the social media company in a way that implies it is not an independent news organization.
A spokesperson for the organization told Bloomberg: “PBS stopped tweeting from our account when we learned of the change and we have no plans to resume at this time. We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.”
PBS joins NPR in deciding to stop posting on the platform. Last week, Twitter labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” the same designation it gives to propaganda outlets in Russia and China. The site later adjusted that label for NPR to “government-funded media,” adding it to PBS’s account as well.
NPR, on Wednesday, said it will no longer post fresh content on any of its 52 official feeds.
“I would never have our content go anywhere that would risk our credibility,” said NPR CEO John Lansing.
Elon Musk has maintained that because NPR receives money from the U.S. Government, the labels are accurate. NPR receives only a small fraction of its operating budget from public funds.
Upon news that NPR had left the platform, Musk made a series of posts including “Defund NPR” and falsely accused the organization of updating its website to remove the part that said federal funding is “essential to public radio,” adding the commentary “What hypocrites!”
NPR’s page still has that section as of Thursday morning.
Musk also mocked PBS upon learning the outlet had stopped posting on Twitter.
“Publicly funded PBS joins publicly funded NPR in leaving Twitter in a huff after being labeled ‘Publicly Funded.'” he wrote.
While individual NPR journalists and staffers won’t be prohibited from posting on the site, Lawing did tell staffers in a memo “it would be a disservice to the serious work you all do here.”
Even if Musk and Twitter reverse course on the labels, NPR says it plans to stay off the platform.
“At this point I have lost my faith in the decision-making at Twitter,” says Lawing. “I would need some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again.”
