Elon Musk threatened to transfer NPR’s Twitter account (@NPR) to another organization or individual, according to a series of emails he sent to one of the public media outlet’s reporters.
Musk added a descriptive tag to NPR’s account labeling the outlet as “state-affiliated media” on April 5, before changing it to “government-funded media” a few days later after pushback; however, NPR announced it would leave Twitter on April 12. Musk then threatened to reassign NPR’s Twitter account Tuesday, citing Twitter’s terms of service which state that if an account does not log in for 30 days, it is considered prolonged inactivity that can lead to permanent removal of the account.
“So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?” Musk reportedly asked an NPR reporter in an unprompted email on Tuesday, according to NPR. (RELATED: PBS Joins NPR In Twitter Boycott)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 24: Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building on January 24, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Musk testified at a trial regarding a lawsuit that has investors suing Tesla and Musk over his August 2018 tweets saying he was taking Tesla private with funding that he had secured. The tweet was found to be false and cost shareholders billions of dollars when Tesla’s stock price began to fluctuate wildly allegedly based on the tweet. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“Our policy is to recycle handles that are definitively dormant,” Musk reportedly wrote in another email. “Same policy applies to all accounts. No special treatment for NPR.”
The reporter asked who might assume NPR’s Twitter account.
“National Pumpkin Radio,” Musk responded, adding a fire emoji and a laughing emoji. “NPR isn’t tagged as government-funded anymore, so what’s the beef?”
Additional public media organizations, such as PBS and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, also quit tweeting after receiving similar labels, according to NPR. Musk later removed the labels, but the targeted outlets have not returned to publicly posting on Twitter.
NPR did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment when asked what they would do if Musk follows through with the threat.
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