Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her department has made of the effectiveness of BBC World Service long-wave broadcasts into (a) Eastern Europe and (b) Russia in reaching audiences with internet service censorship; and if she will make representations to the World Service planners to retain this capability.  [11584]

[Due for Answer on 25 June]

ANSWER

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Multilateral, Human Rights, Latin America and the Caribbean (Chris Elmore): The BBC is editorially and operationally independent, and must decide for itself the most effective and efficient way of delivering the BBC World Service, despite blocking and other forms of harmful interference in several parts of the world. The World Service works to circumvent that blocking through technology, agility and persistence. As a result, almost three quarters of their audience in 2024/25 was in countries with no or low media freedom, and funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office - which has increased by 42 per cent since 2024 - has supported that effort.