Twitter on Tuesday evening labeled the account of National Public Radio (NPR) as US state-affiliated media, drawing fierce criticism from the news organization’s leadership. Other publications with the label include Russian propaganda network RT and China’s Xinhua News Agency. The change to NPR’s designation appears to be in violation of Twitter’s own original policy on how the social media platform determines which companies receive this label. “State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution,” the policy reads. Up until a few hours ago, Twitter explicitly listed NPR along with the BBC as exceptions to this categorization. The policy noted that while both organizations receive state financing – NPR derives less than 1% of its annual operating budget from government programs – they have editorial independence, according to screenshots posted by NPR reporter David Gura. By Wednesday morning, however, the policy had been changed to remove the mention of NPR. The designation of the BBC’s Twitter account remained unchanged, and the organization was still included as an exception in the policy. The Twitter accounts of other publications that receive various degrees of state-funding, such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Flemish VRT NWS, have also been left untouched. NPR’s CEO and president, John Lansing, called the move byTwitter “unacceptable”. “NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who depend on us for the independent, fact-based journalism we provide,” Lansing said in a statement on Wednesday. “NPR stands for freedom of speech & holding the powerful accountable. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.” The development is the second spat between the Elon Musk-owned platform and a major American news outlet in just a week. After the New York Times announced that it would not participate in Twitter’s pay-to-play verification policy, Musk took the company’s blue check away. The move came after Musk tweeted in response to a meme about the New York Times’ decision.