Monday, October 14, 2024

BBC boss warns of Russian and Chinese propaganda

 

The UK is struggling to counter a rise in "pure propaganda" from countries like Russia and China because of cuts to the World Service, the BBC's director general has warned.

Tim Davie called for more funding for its global services, a decade after the government stopped paying for most of the World Service.

Last year, the BBC ended its Arabic, Persian and Hindi radio services, among others, as part of a plan to save £28.5m a year.

Mr Davie told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday that, in contrast, "malign powers, frankly - Russia, China, others - see the benefit of investing heavily in media, bordering into pure propaganda".

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