Twitter CEO Elon Musk has described BBC as “among the least biased” media organisation after a controversy ensued over Twitter’s decision to label the BBC as a "government-funded media" organisation.

After the designation was attached to the main @BBC account, British Broadcasting Company contacted Twitter. The label links through to a page on Twitter’s help centre that says “state-affiliated media” are outlets where the government “exercises control over editorial content” in various ways.

The BBC added in its statement: "The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.”

Further Guardian reported that in response to the BBC's complaint, Elon Musk asked, “Is the Twitter label accurate?”

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“We are aiming for maximum transparency and accuracy. Linking to ownership and source of funds probably makes sense,” Musk added in an email to BBC.

He further added that although all organisations have bias, some obviously much more than others. “I should note that I follow BBC news on Twitter, because I think it is among the least biased.”

Musk also tweeted that” We need to add more granularity to editorial influence, as it varies greatly. I don’t actually think the BBC is as biased as some other government-funded media, but it is silly of the BBC to claim zero influence. Minor government influence in their case would be accurate,”

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Britons pay a £159 license fee per year. The fee is set by the government but paid by individual households, The Guardian said in a report.

Twitter's new labelling of the BBC's account comes after it did the same to US public broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR's) handle.

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