Explainer: Twitter Labels BBC As 'Government Funded Media'; Here Is What It Means

Elon Musk-owned Twitter has come again in a stack on controversies. Days after the SpaceX and Tesla CEO changed Twitter’s logo to the infamous Doge meme and the headquarters’ name changed to the viral ‘Titter,’ the social media giant is back in news. This time Twitter has come under the lens for labelling the media house BBC as a ‘government funded media.’

Let’s take a look at what all has happened so far and what the ‘government funded media’ label on Twitter, given to BBC means. 

BBC Vs Twitter 

After Twitter labelled the main BBC account (@BBC) as ‘government funded media,’ it was natural for a controversy to happen. As per last updates, the BBC contacted Elon Musk’s Twitter and emphasised its stand on how it was ‘not a government funded media.’

The media house wrote, “The BCC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.” Since this thing sparked a controversy, Elon Musk, in response to BBC’s complaint asked, “Is the Twitter label accurate?” 

As per The Guardian, the billionaire even reportedly wrote to the BBC in an email saying, “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 back and forth on BBC getting the ‘government funded media’ tag continues, here is what Twitter actually means by this label. 

BBC Gets ‘Government Funded Media’ Label – Explained

As per Twitter’s help centre, the label is used when the government of that particular country completely or partially funds the media organisation. However, as per the information, the government not just plays a role in funding the media house but also exercises some control over the editorial content. 

The information on Twitter’s help centre reads, “Government-funded media is defined as outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content. We may use external sources similar to this one in order to determine when this label is applied.”

While at this point it is not clear how Twitter would proceed with this situation, all eyes are set on whether BBC’s given label would be changed or not.