Hyderabad: The British Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as BBC, is in a dispute with Twitter over the social media platform's decision to label the news organization as "Government Funded Media." The verified Twitter account of the BBC, which has over 2.2 million followers, received the label due to Twitter's practice of applying special labels to government and non-government organizations.
However, the BBC has objected to the label, stating that it is an independent news organization and should not be associated with the government. The company has been funded by the British public through license fees and has been a popular news service since the beginning of the 21st century.
In a statement, the premiere broadcasting platform said: "The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee."
In response, Twitter has explained that its label is applied to accounts that receive funds from the government or work as government institutions. State-affiliated media accounts are those where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.