Twitter tags BBC as ‘government funded media’, British broadcaster objects

Elon Musk-owned Twitter has labelled the BBC as a “government funded media” on the microblogging site, leading to a sharp reaction from British public broadcaster which on Monday objected to the move.

The taxpayer-funded licence fee supported UK media corporation said it has contacted the social media giant over the designation on its @BBC account to resolve the issue “as soon as possible”.

“The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee,” the BBC statement said.

An email exchange with Twitter chief Elon Musk suggests that he is considering providing a label that would link all media organisations to “exact funding sources”.