The BBC objected to being labeled a “government-funded media” on Twitter.
The company said it had contacted Twitter After adding the label to the main BBC account.
twitter owner Elon Musk Responding to the complaint, asked: “Is the Twitter hashtag accurate?”
BBC Twitter account labeled as ‘government-funded media’
Musk later emailed bbcsaid: “Our goal is to maximize transparency and accuracy. It may make sense to link ownership and funding sources.
“I do think media outlets should be self-aware and not pretend to be completely free of bias.
“All organizations have biases, some clearly more than others.”
He added: “I should point out that I follow BBC News on Twitter because I think it’s the most unbiased.”
The broadcaster said it was speaking to Twitter about the designation, saying in a statement: “The BBC is and has always been independent.
“We are funded by the British public through licensing fees.”
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The hashtag on the BBC account links to a page in the Twitter Help Center that describes “state-affiliated media” as governments “through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressure and/or control of production and distribution”.
The label also applies to American broadcaster NPR’s Twitter, but it has been changed to Government Sponsored Media – the same as the BBC account.
BBC breaking news and sport accounts untagged
The BBC has remained impartial and operates through a royal charter agreed with the government, which says it “must be independent”.
Brits pay a license fee of £159 a year to finance the company’s output. This figure is set by the government but paid for by individual households.
While the main BBC account with 2.2 million followers was tagged, much larger accounts linked to the company’s breaking news and sports programming were not.
The account primarily tweets about BBC-produced TV programmes, radio programmes, podcasts and other non-news material.
it came after twitter Removed NYT blue verification tick from its account.