Shillong, April 10: After a controversy where the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was labeled as ‘Government funded media’ on Twitter, Elon Musk said that the media house has some government influence.
“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” said Elon Musk in a tweet.
The BBC took offence to the term ‘government funded media’ being used on one of its Twitter accounts. The 2.2 million-follower account posts updates about BBC podcasts, radio programmes, and television shows as well as breaking news.
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
State-affiliated media accounts are outlets where the state exercises influence over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and dissemination, according to a page on Twitter’s support website that the label links to.
In order to “resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” the BBC stated it is speaking with Twitter about the label. Despite the fact that BBC News (Global) and BBC Breaking News aren’t being branded in the same way, other accounts of the BBC are.
In a statement, the BBC said: “We are speaking to Twitter to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee”.
