Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated, a move that comes after the Elon Muskowned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee.
Among those no longer labelled was National Public Radio in the US, which announced last week that it would stop using Twitter after its main account was designated state-affiliated media, a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or influenced by authoritarian governments.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp’s government-funded label vanished Friday, alongwith the state-affiliated tags on media accounts including Sputnik and RT in Russia and Xinhua in China.
High-profile users who lost their blue checks Thursday included Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and former President Donald Trump. Celebrity users, from basketball star LeBron James to author Stephen King and Star Trek’s William Shatner, have balked at joining — although on Thursday, all three had blue checks indicating that the account paid for verification.
Many government agencies, nonprofits and publicservice accounts found themselves no longer verified, raising concerns that Twitter could lose its status as a platform for getting accurate, up-to-date information from authentic sources, including in emergencies.
Among those no longer labelled was National Public Radio in the US, which announced last week that it would stop using Twitter after its main account was designated state-affiliated media, a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or influenced by authoritarian governments.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp’s government-funded label vanished Friday, alongwith the state-affiliated tags on media accounts including Sputnik and RT in Russia and Xinhua in China.
High-profile users who lost their blue checks Thursday included Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and former President Donald Trump. Celebrity users, from basketball star LeBron James to author Stephen King and Star Trek’s William Shatner, have balked at joining — although on Thursday, all three had blue checks indicating that the account paid for verification.
Many government agencies, nonprofits and publicservice accounts found themselves no longer verified, raising concerns that Twitter could lose its status as a platform for getting accurate, up-to-date information from authentic sources, including in emergencies.