China and the Russian Federation “are benefiting” from budget cuts that have forced the BBC to reduce its international service, and are pushing forward with “unchallenged propaganda”, director-general Tim Davie said on Monday.
“We can see that when the [BBC] International Service withdraws, state-funded media operators take advantage to occupy the space,” he added, referring to the Russian broadcaster RT, available in English, Arabic and Spanish, and the Chinese broadcaster CGTN.
The BBC International Service broadcasts in more than 40 languages and has an estimated weekly audience of 365 million people around the world.
For years, it was funded by grants from the British government’s Foreign Office. But since 2014, it has been funded by an audiovisual contribution paid by families.
In 2022, the group announced the closure of its Arabic and Farsi services, as well as hundreds of layoffs.
While the BBC World Service budget is equivalent to €479 million, the Russian Federation and China spend between €7 billion and €9 billion on “developing their global media activities” in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, Davie said at an event in London.
“In Africa in particular, Russian media are incredibly active in promoting their arguments,” he added, assuring that “this investment” has had “significant positive” results for the Russian Federation.
A parliamentary inquiry into the funding of the BBC World Service was launched in April.
