Associated Press Backpedals After Proudly Touting NFT of Desperate Migrants

The Associated Press on Thursday hurriedly attempted to scrape the egg off its face after promoting a forthcoming “NFT drop” of a raft of migrants adrift at sea. The outlet’s Twitter account deleted the tweet, which advertised a non-fungible video “of migrants drifting in an overcrowded boat in the Mediterranean,” after it sparked immediate backlash. “This is a grotesque way to earn a profit,” one user chided in the tweet’s replies. “Wait, hang on - are you actively monetizing imagery of human suffering?” another asked. Lauren Easton, director of AP media relations, said in a statement to The Daily Beast that it was a “poor choice of imagery for an NFT” and the auction has been canned. “AP’s NFT marketplace is a very early pilot program, and we are immediately reviewing our efforts,” she said. The AP launched its NFT project last month, announcing it would start selling its “award-winning contemporary and historic photojournalism” as digital tokens.