Fixed it: Canadian public broadcaster CBC's Twitter account labelled '69% Government-funded Media'

Ottawa: Moments after Canadian news broadcaster CBC quit Twitter for being labelled as “Government-funded Media”, Elon Musk tagged the organisation as “69% Government-funded Media.”

Previously, the social media website showed CBC’s Twitter account as “70% Government-funded Media” but Musk said, “Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label”.

In a statement, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada said Twitter had added a “government-funded media” label to its account, branding it the same way as it does major media outlets in countries such as Russia or China.

“In the case of CBC/Radio-Canada this labeling is untrue and deceptive,” the statement said.

Twitter’s help center page, however, does not yet explain what this new label means.

CBC said on Monday, “Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter.”

While the broadcaster is publicly funded, it said its editorial independence is protected under Canadian broadcasting law.

“Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way,” it said.

The “government-funded” label was allegedly added at the request of Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who has publicly expressed disdain for the CBC and fundraised on promises to gut its funding.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticised Poilievre for “attacking this Canadian institution, and attacking the culture and local content (that it produces) that is so important to so many Canadians.”

CBC’s exit follows that of  National Public Radio in the United States which quit the social media platform last month over the same tag. Last month, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was also tagged with the “government-funded” label but following a successful petition by the media group, the tag was changed to “publicly funded.”

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.