BBC Media Action has emphasised its independence from the national broadcaster following a social media post by billionaire Elon Musk.
This week, Musk reposted a claim that the United States government funds the BBC through its international development agency USAID and stated: “BBC is literally state-funded media.”
However, the claim he promoted showed the sources of BBC Media Action’s £25.2m of annual fundraised income, £2.61m of which came from USAID in the year to March 2024.
BBC Media Action responded with a statement that said it is “completely separate from BBC News, and wholly reliant on our donors and supporters to carry out our work”.
The charity, which supports press freedom around the world, recently received a $750,000 donation from Jack Dorsey, co-founder of the now Musk-owned social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
USAID funding pause effect
BBC Media Action said that Donald Trump’s decision to pause all USAID funding after becoming president last month had impacted the charity.
In 2023-24, USAID was BBC Media Action’s second-largest donor after the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (£3.02m), according to its accounts.
The charity said: “Like many international development organisations, BBC Media Action has been affected by the temporary pause in US government funding, which amounts to about 8% of our income in 2023-24.
“We’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our partners and the people we serve.”
Several other UK charities including Stonewall have also said the USAID pause would affect their work.
Police assessing previous Musk post
Last month, a Welsh refugee charity contacted the police after it received a “hostile backlash” to a video shared by Musk on social media.
On 11 January, an X user posted a video of school children offering welcoming messages to refugees and advising that “the Welsh Refugee Council is here to help you” with details of the support the charity offers.
The user accused the charity of “using 12-year-old girls in ads meant to entice migrant men to come to Wales” in their post, which was shared 16,000 times, including by Musk to his over 200 million followers.
South Wales Police told Civil Society today that it was still looking into the matter.
Related articles
