Elon Musk has defended the BBC’s characterization of “government-funded media” on Twitter.
The billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, who also owns the social media platform, attached the poster to the company’s official account on the website.
But while he claimed that “all organizations have bias,” he said it still follows news organization because he believes it is “Among the least prejudiced.”
The BBC has always maintained its impartiality and operates through a Royal Charter agreed with the government, which states that it “shall be independent”.
The broadcaster objected to Musk’s decision and took to Twitter after the label “government funded media” was attached to the @BBC account.
In response to the complaint, Musk asked, “Is the Twitter tag accurate?”
Later, in a direct email to the BBC, he wrote: ‘We aim for maximum transparency and accuracy. Perhaps the association with ownership and source of funds makes sense.
I think media organizations should be self-aware and not falsely claim a complete absence of bias. All organizations have bias, some more obviously than others.
Twitter owner Elon Musk has defended calling the BBC a “government-funded news outlet”
The broadcaster objected to being labeled as such (pictured, the headline ‘Government funded media’) and took to Twitter after the designation was attached to the main BBC account
He continued, “I should note that I follow BBC News on Twitter, because I think it is among the least biased.”
Britons pay £159 license fee each year to finance the company’s production, which is set by the government but paid by individual households.
The broadcaster said it was speaking to Twitter about the rating, adding: “The BBC is and always will be independent. We are funded by the British public through license fees.”
A poster on the BBC’s official account takes users to a page in the Twitter Help Center that says “state media” are outlets where the government exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressure, and/or control over production and distribution. “.
While the BBC account, which has 2.2 million followers, has been given the label, large accounts linked to breaking news and the company’s sporting output are not currently described in the same way.
The “state media” tag was also applied to US station NPR’s Twitter account, but has since been changed to “government funded media” – the same as the BBC account.
The BBC account primarily tweets about TV programmes, radio programmes, podcasts produced by the BBC and other non-news material.
Musk, 51, has downsized the social media company’s communications division in the past few weeks. Since March, the press department’s email address has automatically responded with a poo emoji, as did today when MailOnline reached out to Twitter for comment.
Since Musk bought Twitter in October, he has fired top executives and carried out layoffs with the goal of roughly halving the company’s 7,500 staff, while also allowing people to buy blue ticks to verify their accounts.
Musk was recently ousted from the top spot on Forbes’ annual billionaires list after his decision to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
He took first place on the Forbes list of billionaires in the world last year, when his net worth was estimated at $ 216 billion, ousting Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Musk is now the second richest billionaire in the world after Bernard Arnault, the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH — which owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany & Co.
The two have been trading places on the list for the past few months, CNN reports, but Arnault was able to replace Musk after his net worth grew over $50 billion to $211 billion.
The broadcaster said it was speaking to Twitter about the rating, adding: ‘The BBC is and always will be independent. We are funded by the British public through license fees’
Since Musk bought Twitter in October, he has fired top executives and laid off workers with the goal of roughly halving the company’s 7,500-strong staff.
At the same time, Musk’s net worth has fallen to $180 billion — $39 billion less than it was last year, according to Forbesaccounts.
Forbes reports that Musk’s prestige plummeted after he bought Twitter for $44 billion – funded by Tesla shares.
Investors in the electric car giant were worried at the time that the value of its stake would drop as Musk acquired the social media giant.
Tesla eventually recovered much of its losses, but it’s still selling about half of what it was before Musk acquired Twitter in October.
Musk has been able to hold onto a lot of his wealth as SpaceX’s valuation skyrocketed from $13 billion to $140 billion in the past year alone.
However, that proved not enough to compete with Arnault, 74, who had a ‘banner year’ in 2022 due to his group’s record earnings.
