New Zealand public radio threatens to quit Twitter

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Radio New Zealand became the latest broadcaster to threaten to leave Twitter on Monday, after the social media platform labelled the public broadcaster "government-funded".

RNZ's head of content said it could join US counterparts National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service, who both quit Twitter last week in protest at the tag.

"Not only is our editorial independence protected by the law, we guard it vigorously," head of content Megan Whelan wrote on Twitter.

Public broadcasters have been infuriated by the forced tag, which they believe puts them on par with outlets that are controlled by authoritarian governments.

"Twitter's own policy defines 'government-funded media' as cases where the government 'may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content' - which does not apply to RNZ," Whelan said.

She added that RNZ was considering its options "including talking to Twitter to have the label removed or revised, or as other public media around the world have done, leave the platform".

NPR last Wednesday became the first broadcaster to quit Twitter after it was briefly labelled "state-affiliated media", saying the platform was "taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent". 

Twitter's owner Elon Musk later indicated that the "state-affiliated" tag was a mistake, but despite now being called "government-funded" NPR has not posted since April 12.