There is a new development in NPR's boycott on Twitter, as the news agency claimed that it would not tweet or provide updates on the platform after the labeling fiasco earlier. Elon Musk claimed that Twitter would give their handle, @NPR, to someone else should they continue their reluctance to tweet, as revealed by the CEO to the agency's reporter. 

Mr. Tweet mentioned that Twitter has an "Inactive Account Policy" which could take away a username or handle on the platform should it continue to avoid activity or tweeting on social media.

Elon Musk, Twitter to Reassign NPR's Account If It Continues Boycott

According to NPR reporter Bobby Allyn, Chief Tweet sent an email to him claiming that their account's username may be reassigned to other companies should they continue to boycott the platform. This centers on the agency's main Twitter handle which it held on for years, with @NPR being transferred to someone else or another organization. 

Allyn claims that this is a "threat" to NPR's temperance to tweet amidst the labeling issues it faced from Twitter, with the social media company incorrectly identifying them as state-affiliated. It previously used NPR and BBC as examples in their policy that claims these organizations are known to be government-funded but are independent in their operations.

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Twitter's Inactive Account Policy: Does It Apply to NPR?

Currently, NPR's Twitter account does not have any more labels that incorrectly identify its organization, but the agency is still boycotting the platform, at the same time, keeping its account.

Musk mentioned that this is under Twitter's "Inactive Account Policy," and the company has the right to take their handles from them. 

However, this policy centers on inactive accounts who are not logged in to any Twitter platforms, may it be the app or web, but not necessarily for those who stopped tweeting. 

Twitter's Verification and Labeling Fiasco

One of the features of Twitter 2.0's Blue Subscription program is verification where accounts need to pay as little as $8 for an individual account, and as much as $1,000 for corporations or organizations. With this, the company also started providing labels to accounts, including public entities to distinguish them from other verified accounts online.

The labeling fiasco started when Twitter set up inaccurate details to different news agencies' accounts, going as far as to establish them on the platform inaccurately, claiming that they are US-state affiliated. One of the most notorious ones is with NPR, and the company insisted that it falls under the government affiliation despite the news agency's objection. 

Twitter went to massive lengths to delete this as well, and rebrand NPR as government-funded with the news agency also contesting this label as it is also inaccurate of their operations. With NPR's boycott because of the inaccurate labels, Twitter is not letting it rest as after several weeks of not tweeting, Musk and the company are now threatening to give their username to other similarly-named organizations online. 

Related Article: CBC Takes Break From Twitter Following Government-Funded Media Label