Following in the footsteps of American public broadcasters NPR and PBS, CBC/Radio-Canada halted its activities on Twitter after being labeled “state-funded media” by the social network, all shortly after a request from chief curator Pierre poilievre.

“Our journalism is impartial and independent. To claim otherwise is wrong. That’s why we’re stopping our activities on Twitter,” wrote the public broadcaster on Monday afternoon in both official languages ​​ in the social network.

Radio-Canada’s director-general of news, Luce Julien, has granted its journalists the right to continue publishing on the platform, according to an internal memo obtained by The duty. “You can continue to post on this platform and our entertainment accounts will continue to be active,” the statement said. Only the activities of the institutional accounts and the information service will therefore be suspended.

That same morning, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau came to the defense of the public media. He called it “sorry” that his Tory rival Pierre Poilievre is after the “independent” and “local” public broadcaster with the help of billionaire Elon Musk. “To me it shows a misalignment of values ​​and a lack of understanding of how proud Canadians are of our institutions and dislike it when billionaires are asked to help them attack our institutions,” he said at a news conference.

After a request from Poilievre

English network Radio-Canada was portrayed by Twitter as a “government-funded medium” on Sunday. The move follows Canada’s Conservative Party (CPC) leader Pierre Poilievre sending a letter last week to Twitter’s big boss, billionaire Elon Musk, with precisely that aim. In that statement, he indicated that he wanted to “protect Canadians from misinformation and manipulation by state media.”

Mr. Poilievre never received a reply from Elon Musk. He nonetheless celebrated the appearance of that label attached to the CBC account by declaring that “from now on people will know this is Trudeau propaganda, not news.”

Contacted by The duty To find out if his decision stemmed directly from Mr. Poilievre’s letter, Twitter simply sent a poo emoji in response; An identical response was sent to other media.

The Conservatives’ official proposal is to cut funding from the CBC, but not Société Radio-Canada. However, a petition available Monday on the CCP’s website called for “stop funding the CBC.” Party spokeswoman Marion Isabeau-Ringuette said it was a “translation error”; The page was removed from the site shortly after the questions were received Duty.

More departures from Twitter

Other public media outlets have been given the famous “state-funded media” label by Twitter in recent days. Among them, the American public radio and television networks NPR and PBS have also decided to end their activities on the social network. “The platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” NPR said.

After Britain’s BBC challenged the label, it received a fresh mention from Twitter, which it now describes as “publicly-funded media”.

By way of comparison, Russia’s state media outlets Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, as well as China’s state news agency Xinhua, are being branded as “pro-government media.”

In conversation with The duty Last week, UQAM journalism professor Patrick White shared his fears that multiple outlets would follow in NPR’s footsteps. “It’s important to have reliable sources on social media, otherwise there will be room for misinformation,” he said.

Independent media?

According to Alain Saulnier, former director of information at Radio-Canada, the station’s editorial independence is protected by the Broadcasting Act. This gives the incumbent government no right to interfere with the channel’s content or the way it uses its resources. It is important to preserve “the freedom of expression and the journalistic, creative and programmatic independence of the broadcasters”.

“It was even former Conservative Minister Marcel Masse who sponsored this bill and insisted on the addition of that mention,” explains Mr Saulnier.

Not to mention the existence of Journalistic Standards and Practices (NPJ) that Information Department staff are required to adhere to. This more than 100-page code of ethics stipulates that journalists are “independent of lobbies and political and economic powers”.

In addition, we have an ombudsman on both the French and English sides who deal with complaints from the public. This is another mechanism to ensure CBC/Radio-Canada’s independence. “Unlike private media, the public broadcaster must set up such a transparency mechanism to protect the public and ensure that the NPJs are respected. The decisions of the Ombudsman, who plays a completely independent role, are also public,” recalls Guy Gendron, who held this post from 2016 to 2021.

In 2021-2022, CBC/Radio-Canada received $1.2 billion from the federal government, compared to $1.4 billion the previous year. The public broadcaster also generates income from advertising and subscriptions.

Late Monday night, Twitter changed the label of the CBC account to “69% government-funded media,” a choice that seemed amused by Elon Musk.

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