April 17 (UPI) — The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced in a tweet that it is quitting Twitter, after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk slapped a “government-funded media” label on its account.
CBC is the latest to quit Twitter, after PBS and NPR also left the platform, over “government-funded” and “state-affiliated media” labels.
“Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on Twitter,” CBC wrote in its final tweet Monday.
According to Twitter’s policy, the platform defines “government-funded media” as outlets to which the government provides some or all of the funding and “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.”
“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,” CBC said in a Twitter thread.
Last week, NPR was the first to announce its decision to quit Twitter, shutting down all 52 official Twitter accounts associated with National Public Radio.
“At this point, I have lost my faith in the decision-making at Twitter,” NPR Chief Executive Officer John Lansing said Wednesday before agreeing to give Twitter a “two-week grace period” to revise the decision.
Now, CBC has shut down all of its Twitter accounts for news, sports, CBC-TV and radio program entertainment, as well as regional accounts.
“Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way,” said CBC corporate spokesperson Leon Mar.
“It is important to take a moment to assess what Twitter has done. That is why we have pressed pause today on our accounts,” added Editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon.
“Our journalistic independence is the cornerstone of who we are as a public broadcaster. Suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and untrue.”