Last Update: April 18, 2023, 01:33 AM IST
Government-funded media are defined as outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and according to Twitter there may be varying degrees of government involvement on editorial content. (Image credit: Twitter)
Earlier, CBC corporate spokesperson Leon Mar insisted that the government does not influence CBC’s editorial content.
Canada’s public broadcaster CBC has decided to quit Twitter over its decision to label the microblogging website as a ‘government-funded’ organisation.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada said in a statement that Twitter had added a “government-funded media” label to its account, branding it the same way it does major media outlets in Russia or China. .
“In the case of CBC/Radio-Canada, this labeling is untrue and misleading,” the statement said.
The development comes after American radio broadcaster NPR quit Twitter last week. Following the exit, Twitter decided to label National Public Radio and the BBC as “state-affiliated media”.
“Government-funded media are defined as outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement on editorial content,” according to Twitter.
This week, Twitter also labeled CBC’s account a “government-funded media”.
Responding to the Twitter labeling, CBC corporate spokesperson Leon Mar previously said that the government does not influence CBC’s editorial content.
“Twitter’s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government ‘may have varying degrees of government involvement on editorial content’, which is clearly the case with CBC/Radio-Canada. There isn’t,” March was quoted as saying by the CBC.
“The CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted on by all Members of Parliament. Its editorial independence is protected by law in the Broadcasting Act.”
Last week, NPR became the first significant defection by a major news outlet since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform.
NPR said that all of its organizational accounts “will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent.”
It added that “there are plenty of ways to stay connected to and keep up with NPR’s news, music and cultural content,” while urging users on other platforms.
(with agency inputs)
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