Elon Musk threatens to give NPR's Twitter account to another company, then responds after NPR reports it: 'You Suck'



Elon Musk threatened to reassign the Twitter account from National Public Radio after it stopped tweeting and when it reported the threat, he responded with two words: 'You suck."

The bizarre feud started when Twitter slapped NPR with the label "state-affiliated media" in April. When some pointed out that the label appeared to contradict Twitter's terms of service, the label was changed to "state-funded media."

NPR responded by announcing that it would abandon its Twitter account in order to protest any labeling.

"NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide," wrote John Lansing, the CEO and president of NPR. "It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy."

Musk appeared to acquiesce and removed the labels altogether.

Despite the concession, NPR has not tweeted on its account since April 4.

In a series of emails to NPR that it published early on Tuesday, Musk asked if he should reassign the account with 9 million followers to another person or company.

"So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?" he wrote, according to NPR.

"Our policy is to recycle handles that are definitively dormant," Musk wrote in a different email. "Same policy applies to all accounts. No special treatment for NPR."

NPR asked Musk what company would take over the Twitter account.

"National Pumpkin Radio," he responded with a laughing emoji.

"NPR isn't tagged as government-funded anymore, so what's the beef?" he asked?

After the story was published, Musk responded by sending an email without a message in the body of the email but a short message in the subject line.

"You suck," he wrote.

Here's more about the Musk threat:

NPR: Elon Musk threatens to reassign news outlet's Twitter account www.youtube.com

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Elon Musk fires back at NPR after it abandons Twitter for being labeled 'state-affiliated media'



Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk fired back at National Public Radio after the news organization abandoned the Twitter platform in response to being labeled "state-affiliated media."

NPR said in statement Wednesday that it would be de-emphasizing Twitter in order to avoid the organization's credibility being questioned.

"We believe this label is intended to call in question our editorial independence and undermine our credibility. If we continued tweeting, every post would carry that misleading label," the statement read.

An NPR reporter asked for Musk to respond to a question about the incident, and he posted the question to Twitter with his two word response.

"Because of the label, NPR is quitting Twitter across all of our 50+ accounts. Our executives say the government-funded media label calls into question our editorial independence and undermines our credibility," the email from technology reported Bobby Allyn read.

"Some wonder if this will cause a chain reaction among news orgs. What's your reaction?" Allyn asked.

"Defund @NPR," Musk tweeted simply.

Defund @NPR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 12, 2023

Twitter initially labeled NPR "state-affiliated media" but faced objections from those who defended NPR on the basis that it is editorially independent from government interference. After changing its policies, Twitter then labeled the organization "government-funded media."

John Lansing, the CEO and president of NPR, previously criticized the labeling in a statement last week.

"NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide," wrote Lansing. "It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy."

Conservatives and other critics have demanded for years that the government stop funding NPR over accusations of a left-wing bias at the organization.

Coverage of the feud in many outlets implied that NPR leaving Twitter would be the beginning of an exodus away from the popular micro-blogging platform.

Here's more about the NPR-Musk feud:

NPR quits Twitter in response to Musk attaching 'state-affiliated media' label www.youtube.com

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