New funding agreed to keep BBC world service on air

• The Government has awarded a one-off payment of £20 million to the BBC World Service as part of the refresh of the Integrated Review.

• The money is being provided to protect all 42 World Service language services over the next two years, support English language broadcasting, and counter disinformation.

• The refreshed Integrated Review concludes that democracies like the UK must go further to out-cooperate and out-compete states that are driving instability. Developments over the past year, particularly the conflict in Ukraine, have shown the importance of being able to counter the hostile use of disinformation and to tackle the spread of harmful state narratives.

The Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said:

“The BBC World Service is vital in the fight against the spread of disinformation around the world. This funding will ensure people across the globe continue to have access to accurate, high quality journalism. 

“As the world’s most trusted international broadcaster, the BBC World Service is a vital tool in providing accurate and impartial news, analysis and discussion in 42 languages to 365 million people around the world each week. This one-off funding will allow the BBC World Service to maintain its unrivalled status as the world’s largest international broadcaster, and to continue playing its crucial role in tackling harmful disinformation through providing trusted, impartial news and analysis globally.”