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April 21 (UPI) -- Twitter removed labels from several outlets that designated them as "state-affiliated media" in the social network's latest change to its verification system. As of Thursday night Twitter had removed the state-affiliated media labels from the accounts of NPR, PBS and BBC, as well as from the Russian state-backed outlets Sputnik and RT.
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The social network also deleted the policy page explaining the labels.
NPR reported that Elon Musk told reporter Bobby Allyn in an email Friday morning that it had eliminated all of the media labels at the suggestion of Walter Isaacson, who is reportedly working on Musk's autobiography.
Earlier this month, NPR and PBS announced they would stop posting new content to Twitter after being labeled as state-affiliated media.
NPR challenged the label, pointing out that only a fraction of the outlet's funding comes from the government-sponsored Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
"It would be a disservice to the serious work you all do here to continue to share it on a platform that is associating the federal charter for public media with an abandoning of editorial independence or standards," NPR CEO John Lansing wrote in an email to NPR employees.
In addition to removing the state-affiliated labels, government official labels have been dropped from the Twitter accounts of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The overhaul comes one day after Twitter removed a majority legacy blue verification checkmarks from accounts that had previously been adorned with the badge recognizing notable public figures to encourage users to subscribe to Twitter Blue for $8 a month.
Twitter has struggled to generate revenue since Elon Musk purchased the company for $44 billion in October. In March, Musk admitted that the company is now worth closer to $20 billion.
