More State Media Companies Labeled As ‘Government Funded’ By Twitter
(Steve Watson) Elon Musk’s Twitter has labeled yet more media outlets as ‘government funded’ following suggestions from Twitter users.
The latest network to receive the label on their Twitter account is Canada’s CBC, which according to its own annual report for 2021/22 received $1.24 BILLION in funding from the Canadian government.
BREAKING: CBC officially exposed as “government-funded media”.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) April 16, 2023
Now people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news.
Sign here to save $1 billion & defund the CBC: https://t.co/R8BvsAcR3O pic.twitter.com/Akf6IzdIb2
We must protect Canadians against disinformation and manipulation by state media.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) April 11, 2023
That is why I’m asking @Twitter @elonmusk to accurately label CBC as “government-funded media”.
It is a fact. And Canadians deserve the facts. pic.twitter.com/V1GRFHIcvz
Twitter’s guidelines note that the “government-funded media” label will be applied “where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.”
CBC claims that it is “wholly owned by the state but operated at arm’s length from government.”
(1/3) Twitter’s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,” which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada.
— CBC/Radio-Canada (@CBCRadioCanada) April 17, 2023
→ https://t.co/VrGdwTCYzP
In a statement, CBC corporate spokesperson Leon Mar claimed that “Twitter’s own policy defines government-funded media as cases where the government ‘may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,’ which is clearly not the case with CBC/Radio-Canada.”
He continued, “CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament. Its editorial independence is protected in law in the Broadcasting Act.”
Other outlets that have received the ‘government funded’ label are ABC News and SBS in Australia.
Boom! Twitter now lists Canada’s CBC as government-funded media. Well done @elonmusk. pic.twitter.com/Ymi9t9BTNE
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 17, 2023
The outlet also claimed that while it is “publicly funded” it “has always been and remains an independent media organisation, free from political and commercial interests.”
ABC News branded with new label 'Government-funded Media' on Twitter https://t.co/RNCXO6lPCA
— ABC News (@abcnews) April 17, 2023
In a statement the outlet noted “The ABC doesn’t currently have any plans to shut down all its Twitter accounts. We’re liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels.”
An SBS spokesperson noted that the label “publicly funded” would be more accurate, stating “While we appreciate Twitter’s motivations with regard to transparency on its platform, we believe a ‘publicly funded media’ label better reflects the hybrid public-commercial nature of our funding model and the fact that SBS retains full independence from government in our news editorial and content decision-making.”
Last week, Twitter labelled the BBC as ‘government funded’, but has since changed the label to ‘publicly funded’ following a promise by Musk in a fiery interview with a BBC reporter.
U.S. outlets NPR, PBS and Voice of America have also been slapped with the ‘government funded’ label, which was originally ‘state-affiliated media’.
