With BBC's Twitter handle labelled 'government funded media', Elon Musk has sparked a row with the broadcaster. It is not just BBC, other broadcasters including PBS, NPR has been labelled similar way which was objected by the media platforms.
"The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee," said BBC in a statement.
Taking objection in the label, BBC wrote to Musk saying the corporation is licence fee funded. While, Musk responded saying that he was considering providing a label that would link to "exact funding sources".
However it remains unclear whether this would apply to other media outlets as well. Also, Twitter had not yet given a definition for what it considers “government-funded media”.
State-affiliated accounts
The label links to a page of Twitter's help center that says "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."
It also adds that "State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. "
"Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled," it adds.
@BBC account has around 2.2 million followers, has given the label while other BBC handles including news and sports are not currently being described in the same way. BBC operates through a Royal Charter agreed with the government.
The BBC Charter states that the corporation "must be independent" over "editorial and creative decisions, the times and manner in which its output and services are supplied, and in the management of its affairs."
Editorial content questioned?
Last week Twitter has labelled US radio network NPR "state-affiliated media" which was later re-labelled as “government funded media”. Protesting against the move, NPR had stopped tweeting and had informed the users to find them in every other place where they read the news.
NPR CEO John Lansing had said that the decision by Twitter was "unacceptable".
Also, the White House responded to Twitter's move saying that “there's no doubt of the independence of NPR's journalists”.
Though NPR receives some funding from public institutions its vast majority comes from membership fees and sponsorships.
Also, Twitter had also stripped The New York Times of its verified status on the platform, which has been alleged to have left bias.
Meanwhile, critics pointed out that several companies including Tesla, SpaceX has received billions in government funding and yet they are not labelled in the similar way.
