Twitter owner Elon Musk has defended labelleling the BBC ‘government-funded media’ on Twitter where he said ‘all organisations have bias’ – but added that the corporation is ‘among the least biased’.
The broadcaster objected to being labelled as such and contacted Twitter after the designation was attached to the main @BBC account.
The BBC has always maintained its impartiality and operates through a Royal Charter agreed with government, which says it ‘must be independent’.
Britons pay a £159 licence fee each year to fund the corporation’s output, which is set by government but paid by individual households.
Responding to the complaint, Mr Musk asked: ‘Is the Twitter label accurate?’.
Twitter owner Elon Musk has defended labelleling the BBC ‘government-funded media’ on Twitter where he said ‘all organisations have bias’ – but added that the corporation is ‘among the least biased’
The broadcaster objected to being labelled as such (pictured, a screenshot of the title ‘Government Funded Media’ and contacted Twitter after the designation was attached to the main @BBC account
He later emailed the BBC, writing: ‘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.’
He continued: ‘I should note that I follow BBC news on Twitter, because I think it is among the least biased.’
The broadcaster said it was speaking to Twitter about the designation. It said in a statement: ‘The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.’
The label links through to a page on Twitter’s help centre which says ‘state-affiliated media’ are outlets where the government ‘exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution’.
While the BBC account, which has 2.2 million followers, has been given the label, much larger accounts associated with the corporation’s breaking news and sport output are not currently being described in the same way.
That label was applied to US broadcaster NPR’s Twitter handle, but it has been changed to government-funded media – the same as the BBC account.
The account mainly tweets about BBC-produced TV programmes, radio shows, podcasts and other non-news material.
Musk, 51, has cut down on the social media company’s communications department in the last few weeks, and since March the press email has automatically replied with a poo emoji, as it did today when MailOnline approached Twitter for comment.
Since Musk bought Twitter last October he has fired top executives, started layoffs aiming to cut the company’s 7,500 staff by around a half, and has also allowed people to buy blue ticks.
Recently Musk was dethroned from the top spot of Forbes’ annual billionaire list following his decision to purchase Twitter for $44billion.
He had earned the number one spot on Forbes World Billionaires list last year, when he had an estimated net worth of $216billion, overthrowing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Musk is now the second richest billionaire in the world, falling to Bernard Arnault, the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH — which owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Tiffany & Co.
The two had been trading places on the outlet’s daily Real-Time Billionaires list over the past few months, CNN reports, but Arnault was able to supersede Musk in the annual list after his net worth grew more than $50billion to $211billion.
The broadcaster said it was speaking to Twitter about the designation. It said in a statement: ‘The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee’ (pictured, Broadcasting House in London)
Since Musk bought Twitter last October he has fired top executives, started layoffs aiming to cut the company’s 7,500 staff by around a half, and has also allowed people to buy blue ticks
At the same time, Musk’s net worth fell to just $180billion — $39billion less than it was last year, according to Forbes‘ calculations.
The outlet explains that Musk’s standing plummeted after he purchased Twitter for $44billion — funded by Tesla shares.
Investors in the electric car giant worried at the time about its share value plummeting as Musk took over the social media giant.
Tesla eventually gained back much of its losses, but is still selling at about half of what it was before Musk took over Twitter in October.
He was able to keep much of his wealth, however, as SpaceX valuation increased from $13billion to $140billion in just the past year.
Still, that proved to not be enough to compete with Arnault, 74, who had a ‘banner year’ in 2022 due to record-high profits at his conglomerate.
