Twitter describes the BBC as “state-funded” – now it’s fighting back

“The BBC is independent and always has been,” the broadcaster said, according to reports on Sunday. “We are funded by the British public through licensing fees,” the statement said. The company contacted Twitter about this.

Recently, the “state-funded media” category designation appeared on the @BBC Twitter account, which is followed by approximately 2.2 million users. Other BBC accounts for individual programs or news programs have no corresponding marking.

The BBC’s criticism follows a dispute between US broadcaster NPR and the social network after Twitter temporarily described the @NPR account as “state-controlled”. The social network thus marked both the American public broadcaster and the news agencies Xinhua from China or Tass from Russia. NPR chief John Lansing called Twitter’s action “unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, Twitter also changed the label for NPR to “government-funded.” But even this classification is problematic: NPR is independent and funding comes from a public fund and donations and contributions from member broadcasters. Due to the dispute, no tweets have been made from the @NPR account since April 5. (sda/dpa)