Musk admits BBC ‘among least biased’ in row over Twitter ‘government-funded media’ tag

Elon Musk has described the BBC as “among the least biased” media organisations after the broadcaster objected to being labelled as “government-funded media” on Twitter.

The BBC contacted Twitter after the designation was attached to the main @BBC account. The label links through to a page on Twitter’s help centre that says “state-affiliated media” are outlets where the government “exercises control over editorial content” in various ways.

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

Since 1927, the BBC has operated through a Royal Charter agreed with the government that states the corporation “must be independent”, particularly over “editorial and creative decisions, the times and manner in which its output and services are supplied, and in the management of its affairs”.

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

Responding to the complaint, Musk asked: “Is the Twitter label accurate?”

In an email to the BBC, he wrote: “We are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy. Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense.

“I do think media organisations should be self-aware and not falsely claim the complete absence of bias. All organisations 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.”

While the @BBC account concerned, which has 2.2 million followers, has been given the label, more popular accounts affiliated to the broadcaster’s news and sport output, including BBC News (World) and BBC Breaking News, are not being described in the same way.

Twitter also designated America’s National Public Radio (NPR) as “state-affiliated media”, a label given to outlets including Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua News. The description was later changed to the same “government funded media” tag now applied to the @BBC account.

NPR – which receives some money from public institutions but whose funding mainly comes from sources such as corporate sponsorships and membership fees – had said it would stop tweeting from the account unless it was amended.

With PA Media