Conservatives ask Twitter to label CBC accounts as ‘government-funded’ media
By The Canadian Press Apr 12 2023
OTTAWA — The Opposition Conservatives are asking Twitter to apply a “government-funded” label on accounts associated with the CBC, even as other broadcasters decry the tag for not making clear their editorial independence.
On Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tweeted a copy of a letter addressed to the company making the request.
In the letter, Poilievre asked that the label be applied to CBC’s English “news-related” accounts. But he did not mention Radio-Canada, the broadcaster’s French-language arm.
The social-media giant currently defines “government-funded” media as outlets that “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.”
Poilievre said he believes that applies to CBC.
But CBC said in a statement on Wednesday that is “clearly not the case,” adding that it cannot comment on the motives behind Poilievre’s letter.
“As every Canadian knows, CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded. Its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act,” a spokesperson for the broadcaster said.
The office of Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said the way the broadcaster’s public funding works, members of Parliament only vote on the sum of money it receives — they don’t guide its editorial decisions.
“It is an independent, arms-length Crown corporation,” said Laura Scaffidi, Rodriguez’s press secretary.
She called Poilievre’s comments an “attack on journalists.”
Other media outlets have raised concerns about the difference between phrases such as “government-funded” and “publicly funded” and what each implies.
