Canadian Public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) has said it will stop posting on Twitter after its account was on Monday, April 17 labeled as “69% Government-funded Media” by the social media website.
The Twitter label on the CBC site previously showed “70% Government-funded Media”, but Twitter owner Elon Musk said the “Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label”.
CBC has said it will pause its Twitter activities over the labeling, a spat that has also gotten criticism from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
The Canadian public broadcaster’s Twitter handle “@CBC” was labeled as “69% Government-funded Media”, CBC’s twitter account showed.
Twitter hasn’t explained what the new label means, but media organizations like the BBC and NPR have in recent days been slapped with the same label.
On Sunday, some CBC Twitter feeds started carrying the label “government-funded Media”. CBC replied that it is not government funded, but is “publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament.”
“Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter,” the CBC said on Monday.
The CBC also said advertising helps cover its costs across all platforms.
Reacting to the development, Trudeau accused his rival Poilievre of enlisting U.S. billionaires to attack Canada’s public broadcaster, after Poilievre prodded Musk to label the CBC “government-funded.”
Poilievre said on Twitter last week that he had written to Musk to request that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation be labeled “accurately”.
Speaking to reporters, Trudeau said: “Attacking this Canadian institution, attacking the culture and local content that is so important to so many Canadians, really indicates the values and the approach that Mr. Poilievre is putting forward.
“In order to attack this institution that is important for many, many Canadians, he runs to American billionaires, the tech giants that they continue to defend.”
Also, last week, U.S. broadcaster National Public Radio said it will no longer post content to its 52 official Twitter feeds in protest against a label by the social media platform that implies government involvement in its content.