BBC labelled government-funded media: The label links through to a page on Twitter’s help website which says “state-affiliated media accounts” are 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”.
Twitter has labelled the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which is funded predominantly by British households paying a license fee, as “government-funded media”. While the @BBC account, which has 2.2m followers, has been given the label, much larger accounts associated with the BBC’s news and sport output are not currently being described in the same way.
The label links through to a page on Twitter’s help website which says “state-affiliated media accounts” are 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”.
What BBC said
Notably, the Corporation is mainly funded by British taxpayers, who pay a £159-a-year licence fee. Although the government sets how much the licence fee is, not everyone has to pay it, and households pay directly.
As the UK’s national broadcaster, the BBC operates through a Royal Charter agreed with the government. The BBC Charter 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”.