Elon Musk, says Twitter will switch the BBC account’s newly added classification from “government supported media” to “publicly-financed.”
The businessman who paid $44 billion (£35.4 billion) for the platform in October told BBC News in an interview that “We’re trying to be accurate.”
This week, the BBC expressed opposition to the original term, stating: “The BBC is, and always has been, independent.
“We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.”
In an interview with BBC technology correspondent James Clayton in San Francisco on Tuesday, Mr Musk noted: “I know the BBC for example is not thrilled about being labelled state-affiliated media.”
He said: “If we use the same words that the BBC uses to describe itself, that presumably would be OK… That seems to pass a reasonable test.” He added: “I actually do have a lot of respect for the BBC. The BBC has said it would welcome any such move.”
Earlier this week, the broadcaster objected to the “government funded” description on its main @BBC account, asking Twitter to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
It has not been changed at the time of writing.
Twitter also used the same description for US public broadcaster NPR’s handle.
By: Gyamfuah Owusu-Ackom
