Retreat of BBC World Service aids propaganda from Russia and China – Tim Davie

BBC director-general Tim Davie will warn that the retreat of its World Service due to funding cuts has helped Russia and China broadcast “unchallenged propaganda”.

On Monday afternoon, in a speech at the Future Resilience Forum, a non-partisan meeting attended by international political figures, Mr Davie will discuss the global importance of the BBC World Service, which operates across more than 40 languages.

While addressing the war in Ukraine and unrest in the Middle East, Mr Davie is expected to say: “This is a critical moment of challenge for stability and democracy worldwide.”

He adds: “Free and fair reporting has never been more essential – for global democracy and for audiences of most need around the world.

“Rapid advances in generative AI have made it cheaper and easier to spread misleading narratives that can potentially influence elections.”

The latest Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum shows that “the most severe global risk” over the next two years will be “foreign and domestic actors” leveraging misinformation and disinformation to “further widen societal and political divides”.

Acknowledging this, Mr Davie is expected to say: “What we are facing is an all-out assault on truth worldwide – and with it security, stability and democracy.

“And no one should underestimate the impact the BBC has had in the global news landscape to this point – as an entirely independent force, with no purpose other than to bring trustworthy information to those who need it most…”

Earlier in the month the corporation released a 90-second film offering a glimpse into the BBC’s fight against disinformation.

It follows on from the launch of BBC Verify, which comprises a team of about 60 journalists who use the latest tools and technology to explain to viewers their fact finding.

Mr Davie will also discuss the impact and growth of news outlets controlled by Russia and China, and is expected to speak about how they are outspending BBC investment “by a multiple of thousands”.

He will say: “Together they are spending an estimated £6-8 billion on expanding their global media activities – investing hard to grow their audiences in key markets in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

“Across Africa in particular, Russian media is incredibly active in promoting its narratives – with social media influencers amplifying propaganda and so-called ‘activists’ live-streaming pro-Russia rallies.

“And this investment is seeing significant returns – not only in terms of the reach of Russian state broadcaster RT and China’s CGTN, but also in terms of trust.”

Mr Davie will add: “Perhaps most worrying from the BBC point of view is that we can now see clear evidence of the fact that, when the World Service retreats, state-funded media operators move in to take advantage.”

In 2022, the BBC announced the proposed closure of around 382 posts at the World Service as well as the closure of its Arabic and Persian radio services.

In April, an inquiry was launched into the future funding of the service, which will focus on the corporation’s influence as a soft power and look to establish whether increased Government support is needed.

The international broadcaster, owned and operated by the corporation, is predominantly funded by the UK licence fee but receives additional grant funding of £104.4 million from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The World Service has agreed not to close any language services under its current support package, but this condition is set to be lifted in 2025.

In his speech, Mr Davie will discuss how other companies have filled the “gaps” the BBC left in Africa following its “retreat”.

“Kenya’s state broadcaster KBC has taken up Chinese output on TV and radio, as has Liberia’s state broadcaster LBS”, he will say.

“Meanwhile in Lebanon, Russian-backed media is now transmitting on the radio frequency previously occupied by BBC Arabic.”

He adds: “Last month our outstanding BBC Monitoring teams listened in to that Russian output on the day thousands of pagers and radio devices exploded.

“What they heard was unchallenged propaganda and narratives being delivered to local communities.

“Had the BBC been able to retain our impartial radio output, these messages would have been much harder for local audiences to find.

“In this context, the further retreat of the BBC World Service should be a cause for serious global concern.”