Twitter Slapped CBC With A 'Government-Funded Media' Tag But The Broadcaster Is Biting Back
When asked for an explanation, Twitter reportedly responded with a poop emoji. 💩
CBC News building in Toronto.
Since its takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter has been making a lot of changes, especially when it comes to verifications and other tags.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has been the latest target after the social media platform slapped them with a very specific tag last night.
On Sunday, April 16, Twitter added a "government-funded media" tag to CBC's official Twitter page.
Twitter's policy explains that this tag is used to "provide additional context for accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy."
It adds that government-funded media is defined as "outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content."
The policy page also provides the definition of tags like state-affiliated media, publicly-funded media and government accounts.
As of Monday morning, the government-funded media tag had not spread onto the @CBCNews handle or any other related accounts of the broadcaster.
The move came just days after Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre wrote a letter to Twitter and Musk asking them to label CBC as government-funded media.
And while CBC has refused to comment on the "motives behind the letter," it's pretty clear that it's biting back.
The broadcaster released a series of tweets on Sunday night critiquing the new label.
"Twitter's own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government 'may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,'" the broadcaster said, adding that this is "clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada."
"CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament," it continued. "Its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act."
\u201c(1/3) Twitter\u2019s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government \u201cmay have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,\u201d which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada.\n\u2192 https://t.co/VrGdwTCYzP\u201d— CBC/Radio-Canada (@CBC/Radio-Canada) 1681695384
"In addition, our journalism is independent and subject to our Journalistic Standards and Practices, as well as an independent complaints process," it stated.
In an article on the subject, CBC also shared details about its revenue, stating that while it had received government funding of $1.24 billion in 2021-2022, it also reported $651 million in revenue, largely from advertising from other sources like the 2020 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.
"The CBC is a Crown corporation, wholly owned by the state but operated at arm's length from government," the article states.
Meanwhile, when The Canadian Press asked Twitter for an explanation via email, the company reportedly responded with a poop emoji.
CBC has since announced that will be pausing activities on Twitter.
\u201cOur journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter. | Notre journalisme est impartial et ind\u00e9pendant. Pr\u00e9tendre le contraire est faux. C\u2019est pourquoi nous suspendons nos activit\u00e9s sur @Twitter.\u201d— CBC/Radio-Canada (@CBC/Radio-Canada) 1681756866
In a Tweet at 2.41pm on Monday, the broadcaster stated that, "Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter."
National Public Radio and PBS in the U.S., which, when hit with stamps such as "state-affiliated media" and "government-funded media," respectively, also chose to leave Twitter in protest.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.