LONDON – Twitter owner Elon Musk has said the social media site will update the BBC’s “government-funded media” tag after the broadcaster objected to the label, reported German news agency (dpa).
The BBC contacted Twitter last week after the designation was attached to the main @BBC account.
In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Musk said he has the “utmost respect” for the organisation, adding: “We want (the tag) as truthful and accurate as possible – we’re adjusting the label to (the BBC being) publicly funded – we’ll try to be accurate.”
He previously described the BBC as “among the least biased” news organisations.
In a statement released in the wake of the “government-funded media” designation, the broadcaster said: “The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.”
The label links to a page on Twitter’s help centre which says “state-affiliated media” are outlets where the government “exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”
That label was applied to US broadcaster NPR’s Twitter handle, but it has been changed to government-funded media – the same as the BBC account.
The BBC has always maintained its impartiality and operates through a Royal Charter agreed with government, which says it “must be independent”.
Britons pay a £159 (RM872) licence fee each year to fund the corporation’s output, which is set by government but paid by individual households.
While the BBC account, which has 2.2 million followers, has been given the label, much larger accounts associated with the corporation’s breaking news and sport output are not being described in the same way.
The account mainly tweets about BBC-produced TV programmes, radio shows, podcasts and other non-news material. – Bernama, April 12, 2023
