'What Hypocrites!': Elon Musk reacts after major news organisation quits Twitter

National Public Radio (NPR) recently announced that it would no longer use Twitter to post content. This move from the major news organisation comes shortly after Twitter labeled "government-funded media." The new label implied that the US government has involvement in its editorial content. Elon Musk responded to NPR's Twitter account withdrawal by citing a statement on the organisation's official website. Musk called NPR 'hypocrites' for stopping the use. 

In his tweet, Elon Musk said, NPR literally said “Federal funding is essential to public radio” on their own website (now taken down)." He further added, "What hypocrites!"

NPR argues that the label provided by Twitter is not an accurate description of its public media governance structure. The organisation claims that Twitter refused repeated requests to remove the label or use a more accurate one.

NPR literally said “Federal funding is essential to public radio” on their own website (now taken down).

What hypocrites! pic.twitter.com/kYAXW0zpyl

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 12, 2023

NPR noted that if it continued tweeting, every post would carry a misleading label, and therefore it would no longer use Twitter to post content. NPR will remain on other social media platforms and is reviewing whether it should expand to include emerging third-party platforms.

Also read: 'Painful and not fun at all': Elon Musk opens up about his experience of owning Twitter

BBC was also labeled with the same label. BBC objected to the label, also calling it misleading. Hours after Musk's interview with BBC, Twitter changed the label on BBC to "publicly funded media".

Elon Musk, during an interview with BBC, claimed Twitter strives to be as "truthful and accurate" as possible. He also mentioned that Twitter is "roughly breaking even" since many advertisers, who had previously paused spending on the platform, had returned.

During the interview, Musk was also asked if he would be willing to sell Twitter if he was offered $44 billion. He immediately responded with a 'no'. Musk later clarified that he would only sell it to someone who has the same commitment to 'truth' as him.   

Also read: 'India has very strict social media laws': Elon Musk on why Twitter posts related to BBC docu on PM Modi were taken down