BBC Media Action has stressed its independence from the national broadcaster after a social media post by the billionaire Elon Musk called the charity “state-funded media”.

On Tuesday, Musk reposted a false claim on X that the US government funds the BBC via its international development agency USAID, saying: “BBC is literally state-funded media.”

The graphic that Musk reposted was originally shared by another X user and showed the sources of BBC Media Action’s annual fundraised income in the year to the end of March 2024.

It showed that just £2.6m of its total £25.2m of fundraised income came from USAID.

BBC Media Action, which supports local media around the world, responded to the post with a statement, stressing its independence from BBC News and saying it was “wholly reliant” on donors and supporters to carry out its work.

The charity said: “As the BBC’s international charity, we are completely separate from BBC News, and wholly reliant on our donors and supporters to carry out our work.”

BBC Media Action said it had been affected by President Donald Trump’s decision to pause all USAID funding.

According to its accounts for the year to the end of March 2024, USAID was the charity’s second-largest donor during this period, behind the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which donated £3m.

BBC Media Action said: “Like many international development organisations, BBC Media Action has been affected by the temporary pause in US government funding, which amounts to about 8 per cent of our income in 2023/24. 

“We’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our partners and the people we serve.”

It comes just weeks after the Welsh Refugee Council contacted the police over “defamatory” comments in a post shared by Musk on X, warning that the claims could escalate threats towards the charity and its staff.