BBC objects to being branded ‘government-funded media’ on Twitter

British broadcaster says it was speaking to Twitter to resolve the issue ‘as soon as possible’

The BBC has objected to being labelled as “government-funded media” on its main Twitter account.

The outlet reported that while its main account @BBC, which has 2.2m followers, has been given the label, other accounts that have a larger following associated with the BBC’s news and sport output are not currently being described in the same way.

The British broadcaster said that it was speaking to the social media giant about the label, to resolve the issue “as soon as possible”.

The BBC said in a statement: “The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.”

In an email response to the broadcaster, Twitter CEO Elon Musk asked: “Is the Twitter label accurate?”

When asked to clarify his comments in a separate email with the broadcaster, Mr Musk said: “We are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy. Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense. I do think media organizations should be self-aware and not falsely claim the complete absence of bias.

“All organizations 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.”

Britons pay a £159 licence fee each year to fund the corporation’s output, which is set by the government but paid by individual households.

The BBC operates under the royal charter, which lays out its mission and purpose as well as its governance structure, all of which are independent of the UK government of the day.

It also receives more than £90m per year from the government to support the BBC World Service, which predominantly serves non-UK audiences.

A significant portion of the broadcaster’s income also comes from selling BBC Studios productions worldwide and through advertising to non-UK viewers and readers.

Twitter describes its “government and state-affiliated media account labels” on its help page as: “Labels on state-affiliated accounts provide additional context about accounts that are controlled by certain official representatives of governments, state-affiliated media entities and individuals associated with those entities.”

Last week, Twitter had also labelled US broadcaster NPR as “state affiliated media” which appears on the Twitter page of outlets, including Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua News.

But NPR’s label has been changed to “government-funded media” like the BBC’s main Twitter account.

Also last week, Twitter stripped the New York Times of its verified badge after the newspaper said it would not pay for the check mark.