After Earning ‘State-Affiliated Media’ Label On Twitter, NPR Leaves For Chinese State-Affiliated TikTok

National Public Radio (NPR) has decided to no longer use Twitter as a platform after being labeled “US state-affiliated media” by the social media site. Twitter’s decision triggered NPR’s decision to promote its content on other social media platforms, like TikTok, a popular app that is viewed as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spyware.

NPR’s CEO, John Lansing, claims to have lost faith in Twitter’s decision-making and stated that it would be unjust to continue sharing content on a platform that associates the federal charter for public media with an abandoning of editorial independence or standards.

Shortly after NPR’s announcement, the government-funded outlet promoted its other social media accounts, including TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance. TikTok has connections to the CCP and has received criticism for its privacy policies, including the collection of biometric identifiers and information like faceprints and voiceprints from users’ content.

While NPR has claimed Twitter’s labeling of the outlet as government-funded media is inaccurate and misleading, the outlet admits to receiving less than 1% of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting. NPR has a history of its left-wing bias and journalistic incompetence, as seen in various articles.

Currently, Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist, a graduate of the University of Mary Washington, and a state content writer for Convention of States Action. His work has been featured in various outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review.