T(w)itter label’s BBC as ‘Government Funded Media’; BBC fumes

The BBC and Twitter are currently in disagreement as Twitter has classified the BBC's verified Twitter account as "Government Funded Media," which has angered the BBC's owners. The BBC has lodged an objection with Twitter management and requested the removal of the label. The BBC asserts that the label should be removed from their account without delay.

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.

• We need to add more granularity to editorial influence, as it varies greatly. I don’t actually think the BBC is as biased as some other government-funded media, but it is silly of the BBC to claim zero influence.
  
  Minor government influence in their case would be accurate.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  We need to add more granularity to editorial influence, as it varies greatly. I don’t actually think the BBC is as biased as some other government-funded media, but it is silly of the BBC to claim zero influence.
  
  Minor government influence in their case would be accurate.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2023

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  We need to add more granularity to editorial influence, as it varies greatly. I don’t actually think the BBC is as biased as some other government-funded media, but it is silly of the BBC to claim zero influence.
  
  Minor government influence in their case would be accurate.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2023

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.

The BBC has made a statement saying that they are talking to Twitter officials to resolve the issue as soon as possible. They have requested Twitter to remove the label of "Government Funded Media" from their account, as they are an independent news organization.

Twitter recently applied a similar labelling to the BBC's account as it did to the US public broadcaster NPR's handle. When the social media company first labelled NPR as "state-affiliated media," it was grouped with outlets like Russia's RT and China's Xinhua News.

However, Twitter later changed the designation to "government-funded media," which is now the same tag applied to the @BBC account. In response to the initial label, NPR had threatened to stop tweeting from the account unless the label was revised.

This dispute highlights the ongoing debate around media independence and funding sources. The BBC is one of the world's most well-known and respected news organizations, but the label of "Government Funded Media" could undermine its reputation for impartiality and objectivity.