Twitter CEO Elon Musk speaks at the marketing conference “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships,” in Miami Beach, Florida, in April.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk speaks at the marketing conference “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships,” in Miami Beach, Florida, in April.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk has threatened to reassign NPR’s Twitter account to “another company”.
In a series of emails to this reporter, Musk suggested that he would transfer the network’s main account on Twitter, under the name @NPR, to another organization or individual. The idea shocked even longtime observers of Musk’s fickle and frenetic leadership style.
Handing over established accounts to third parties carries a serious risk of impersonation and could jeopardize a company’s reputation, social media experts say.
“If this is an indication that something is about to happen on Twitter, we may soon see a rapid retreat of organizations,” said Emily Bell, a professor at Columbia School of Journalism. media organizations and other brands don’t think it’s worth the risk.” social media researcher. “It’s really an extraordinary threat to take.”
Last month, NPR effective quit smoking Twitter after Musk labeled the news organization’s account that it was state-controlled. Other public media organizations, including PBS and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, followed suit and stopped tweeting after similar labeling.
Since then, Musk has removed the label, but the stores initially targeted have not continued to operate publicly on Twitter.
Musk: ‘should we reassign @NPR to another company?’
In a surprise email on Tuesday, Musk wrote: “So will NPR start reposting on Twitter or should we hand @NPR over to another company?”
Under ‘s Twitter terms of serviceinactive account based on login not tweet. Those rules state that an account must be logged in at least every 30 days, and “prolonged inactivity” could result in the account being permanently deleted.
Musk did not respond when asked if he plans to change the platform’s definition of inactivity, and he declined to say what prompted him to raise new questions about NPR’s inactivity on Twitter.
“Our policy is to recycle completely inactive handles,” Musk wrote in another email. “The same policy applies to all accounts. There is no special treatment for NPR.”
The threat of retaliation is the latest volley in the months-long conflict between Musk and longstanding media organizations since the billionaire bought Twitter in October.
Musk has long attacked the media and tried to discredit journalists. Twitter CEO suspended reporters who published or promoted stories criticized him. Musk has removed and sometimes reissued “verified” blue checkmarks to news organizations and individual journalists.
Recently, by offering “verified” blue checks for purchase, Musk has created a chaotic scene on social media, blurring the line between users between what is real and what is fake on a website. of the most influential social networks.
Musk told NPR: ‘So what is beef?’
His suggestion on Tuesday that he could move NPR’s main Twitter account with nearly 9 million followers to another entity is typical of the way Musk runs the social networking site.
As is often the case with Musk, it is unclear whether he will carry out the threat.
A former Twitter executive was taken aback by the comment, telling NPR that such a threat is alarming to any business operating on the site, as it shows that consenting with every whim of Musk that may be necessary to avoid impersonation.
For most of its 17-year history, Twitter has had rules that maintain a certain degree of order and give both individuals and organizations some control over their presence on the platform. This.
NPR CEO John Lansing previously said he had lost faith in “decision making at Twitter” and needed more time to determine if Twitter could be trusted again.
An NPR spokesperson declined to comment further.
Musk, whose statements to reporters often interspersed with jokes, insults or attempts to troll, responded sarcastically when asked who would likely hijack NPR’s Twitter account.
“National Pumpkin Radio,” Musk wrote, adding a fire emoji and a smiley emoji to describe the fictional gourd-themed broadcaster’s content. “NPR is no longer tagged as government-funded, so what is beef?”
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Tech Correspondent Bobby Allyn and edited by Business Editor Lisa Lambert. According to NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no company official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
