Twitter badges never stop talking. After a misunderstanding about the disappearance of the old certification marks and the lack of differentiation with the paid badges, it is the media badges that are today at the center of the disputes with Elon Musk.
In question, the appearance for several days of ticks “Financed by a government” in the biographies of various media, such as the American radio NPR but also the BBC, an English public group.
“Funded Through Royalty”
The BBC thus challenges this name, indicating in an article that it has asked Elon Musk to reconsider his decision. In fact, the English group affirms that its operation is not financed by the government but by public rates.
The English group specifies, however, that the BBC does receive aid from the State (90 million pounds sterling a year) but that it is intended for BBC World Services, a radio station for the non-British public.
One of the “less biased” outlets according to Musk
Elon Musk, for his part, said that he considered the BBC one of the “less biased” media and advocated “transparency and the most complete precision” to justify these new ticks.
The head of Twitter has indicated in passing that he was considering adding a new tag to redirect to a link indicating the exact sources of funding for each outlet.
Note that in some of the tweets mentioning the issue, some users have added a context note. This takes up the elements indicated on the website of the British Parliament.
The note states in particular that “the BBC is funded primarily by a license fee paid by UK households. The amount is set by the government in a periodic ‘license fee agreement’. […] The government has said it is considering how the BBC should be funded after the March 2028 period.”
Source: BFM TV
