Musk, Boebert call to ‘defund’ NPR after it quit Twitter

Elon Musk and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) called for NPR to be defunded after the outlet announced it would no longer use Twitter due to the social media platform slapping it with a “government-funded media” label.

“Defund @NPR,” Musk tweeted on Wednesday, after sharing an email that said the media outlet was no longer using Twitter.

Boebert responded to the Musk Tweet by saying “I’ve been saying that for quite some time! Let’s get it done!”

NPR said it decided to stop using the platform because the “government-funded media” label undermined public trust and its editorial independence.

Twitter had initially labelled NPR’s account as “state-affiliated” media, but switched to the government-funded categorization over the weekend, which it also applied to outlets including the BBC, PBS and Voice of America.

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” NPR said in a statement Wednesday.

NPR also said it receives less than one percent of its funding from the government. Musk also mocked a page on its website that says “Federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public.”

It was unclear whether Musk and Boebert were calling on the government to drop its funding of the outlet or were calling on readers and listeners to stop contributing to NPR, which accounts for a larger portion of the organization’s funding. 

NPR’s main Twitter account has 8.8 million followers.