Twitter removed the “state-affiliated media” and “state-funded media” labels applied to many media accounts so far, according to AFP on Friday.
Many major media accounts, both Western and Chinese, Russian and otherwise, that previously carried one of these labels no longer do, AFP found.
Among them were the accounts of United States Public Radio (NPR), China’s official news agency xinhuathe Russian TRthe canadian Radio Canada and the Spaniards RTVE.
This label has long been attached to slants related to state media or government officials, especially Chinese and Russian.
The social network maintained that this rule applied to entities that “are the official voice of a state abroad”.
However, the platform, bought by the billionaire Elon Musk last year, recently changed its policy and began awarding such a label to means of communication that receive public funds, even if they are not controlled by any government.
In response, some outlets stopped using Twitter or threatened to quit the social network.
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