The BBC has complained to Twitter over the labelling of its corporate Twitter account as “government-funded media”.
It’s the latest in a series of changes introduced since the controversial takeover of the social media company by entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Similar tags were applied to PBS, Voice of America, and NPR, which do receive part of their funding from government sources. NPR was originally tagged “state-affiliated media”, but the label was removed after the broadcaster stopped using the account in protest.
The BBC operates under a Royal Charter and is funded by a £159 licence fee paid by the public. Its domestic service receives no government funding.
However, BBC World Service receives in the region of £90 million in direct funding from government. None of the Twitter accounts operated by BBC World Service or BBC News had the labels applied to them.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We are speaking to Twitter to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.”
Musk later emailed the BBC himself, saying: “We are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy. Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense.
“All organisations have bias, some obviously much more than others… I should note that I follow BBC News on Twitter, because I think it is among the least biased.”
