Elon Musk described the BBC as “among the least biased” media organisations after Twitter mistakenly labelled the new organisation as “government-funded media”. The BBC contacted Twitter after the designation was attached to the main @BBC account- linking through to a page on Twitter’s help centre that defined “state-affiliated media” as outlets where the government “exercises control over editorial content”.
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“The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee,” the BBC said in a statement. Since 1927, the BBC has been operated through a Royal Charter agreed with the UK government. As per the charter, BBC “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”.
In response to the BBC’s complaint, Elon Musk asked, “Is the Twitter label accurate?”
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In an email to the BBC, Elon Musk wrote as per Guardian, “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.”
Earlier Twitter also designated America’s National Public Radio (NPR) as “state-affiliated media”- but the description was later changed to the same “government funded media” tag as given to the BBC.
