Twitter labels ABC and SBS ‘government-funded media’

SBS has sought to push back on Twitter’s labelling of the broadcaster’s news service as ‘government-funded media’ after it and ABC were hit with the labels on Monday.

Twitter has labelled ABC News and SBS News ‘government-funded media’ in the latest of several news services reclassified by the social media platform in recent weeks.

ABC and SBS will not quit Twitter, after the social media platforms labelled the public broadcasters’ news services “government-funded media”, lumping the two into a category previously used for government mouthpieces.

Twitter moved on Monday to label ABC News’ account on its platform “government funded media”, in the wake of similar moves in recent weeks that earned the ire of users, leading some media groups to quit the site.

SBS, which was also hit with the “government-funded media” label on Monday, told The Australian the broadcaster would push back on the move.

An SBS spokesman said the broadcaster disagreed with the label applied by Twitter, arguing it did not reflect the nature of the media group’s funding.

Twitter has applied three different labels to media groups in recent weeks, including “government-funded media”, “state-affiliated media”, or “publicly-funded media”.

“While we appreciate Twitter’s motivations with regard to transparency on its platform, we believe a “Publicly funded media” label better reflects the hybrid public-commercial nature of our funding model and the fact that SBS retains full independence from Government in our news editorial and content decision-making,” an SBS spokesman said.

The Special Broadcasting Service is understood to be concerned about the potential for the label to mislead its multicultural viewers, who may see it as government controlled or affiliated.

SBS is partially funded from ad revenues, unlike the ABC.

A spokesman for the ABC said it would contact Twitter in response to the labelling, but said the broadcaster would not stop using the social media platform.

“The ABC doesn’t currently have any plans to shut down all its Twitter accounts,” he said. “The ABC is liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels.”

In a statement posted on Twitter, the ABC said it was “a publicly funded broadcaster, governed by the ABC Charter which is enshrined in legislation”.

“For more than 90 years, the ABC has always been and remains an independent media organisation, free from political and commercial interests,” the ABC said.

Twitter claims it brands accounts government funded if they are funded in part or wholly by governments, which “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content”.

Twitter categorises “publicly funded media accounts” as media groups “that receive funding from license fees, individual contributions, public financing, and commercial financing”.

Twitter has been pushing media sites to sign on to its verified organisations service, as the social media group seeks to raise funds in the wake of Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform.

The BBC objected to Twitter’s branding last week, which saw it labelled government funded media, claiming this ignored the broadcasters’ licensing fees funding source.

Twitter chief executive Elon Musk, responding to a tweet about the move, questioned the label asking “Is the Twitter label accurate?”.

America’s National Public Radio forced Twitter to review its decision to brand the platform “state-funded media” last week, changing the service’s label.

But the radio network said it would “de-emphasise” Twitter and cease tweeting from the labelled accounts in response.

NPR CEO John Lansing said Twitter’s decision was “unacceptable”.

“After great consideration, we will not put our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of editorial independence,” Mr Lansing said.