- Elon Musk’s Twitter has labelled the BBC as ‘government-funded media’
- The BBC is funded by the British public, who pay a £159-a-year licence fee
Elon Musk has risked a row with the BBC by labelling it as ‘government-funded media’ on Twitter.
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.
When someone clicks on the BBC’s new label, it brings them to a page about government accounts and state-affiliated media accounts. Twitter described state-affiliated media accounts 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.’
The page does not include a definition for its ‘government-funded media’ label.
