CBC wants Twitter to change its label to ‘Publicly-funded media’

The Global Task Force is urging Twitter to change the “Government-funded Media” labels designated to several accounts.

The CBC is part of the group and received the label last week before CEO Elon Musk changed it to “69 percent Government-funded Media” after the broadcaster sent Musk a formal letter saying it’s “less than 70% government-funded.”

The group says the “misleading label” was also assigned to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

The CBC points to Twitter’s policy, that states government-funded media might see government officials involved in the editorial content in some way. That’s ” clearly not the case with ABC, CBC/Radio-Canada, KBS or RNZ,” a CBC press release says.

If any label is to be applied to these accounts, it should be “Publicly-funded media,” the broadcaster says.

After all, it’s a change Twitter has already implemented for several BBC Twitter accounts. Originally labelled “Government-funded Media,” Twitter changed it after opposition from the broadcaster.

“Twitter’s approach to labelling on the basis of funding misunderstands the fundamental concept of public service media: they are publicly funded organizations that are statutorily independent of government influence. This model has served audiences well in democratic countries for much of the last century.”

Members from several media outlets around the world, including the BBC, KBS, and CBC, make up the task force.

Image credit: CBC/Twitter

Source: CBC