(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre of conspiring with American billionaire Elon Musk to attack CBC/Radio-Canada, an institution important to Canadians.
Posted at 10:48 am
On Sunday, Twitter decided to add the “government-funded media” label to CBC’s account after the Conservative leader sent a letter to the web giant.
Poilievre was quick to welcome the new designation, saying, “People now know this is Trudeau propaganda, not news,” he wrote on Twitter. He then launched another call to interrupt the CBC.
“It is really sad to see a political party attacking the independent media. Mr. Poilievre claims he wants to attack the CBC without also attacking Radio-Canada. But that is completely wrong. We cannot trust Conservatives when we see them regularly attacking the culture, identity and quality of independent journalism,” Mr Trudeau said.
PHOTO DARRYL DYCK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Justin Trudeau
“It’s saying a lot to see that the Conservative Party has decided to attack an institution important to many Canadians by running to billionaire web giants in the United States,” added the Prime Minister.
CBC had resisted such a naming, which some say risks jeopardizing its independence. The state-owned company also issued a press release on Sunday evening to set the record straight.
“Twitter policy defines state-funded media as instances where the government may ‘intervene to varying degrees in editorial content,’ which CBC/Radio-Canada clearly does not do,” CBC argued on its Twitter account.
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVE
Pierre Poilevre
“CBC/Radio-Canada is publicly funded through a parliamentary grant elected by all Members of Parliament. Its editorial independence is legally protected under the Broadcasting Act,” the statement continued.
“In addition, our journalism is independent and is subject to our journalistic standards and practices as well as an independent complaints procedure through the Ombudsman,” it said.
Unlike CBC, the CBC/Radio-Canada institutional account has not been given the label of government-funded media. Radio-Canada’s reports also do not contain this mention.
Pierre Poilievre has promised to shut down CBC, but not Radio-Canada.
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.
Twitter has already placed the controversial label on the accounts of British public broadcaster BBC and American public radio station National Public Radio. The latter has also condemned this measure as an attack on its integrity in terms of editorial independence and has decided to no longer be active on the social network.
Twitter had identified these channels as “state-affiliated,” a term usually attributed to state media outlets that relay the propaganda of an authoritarian regime — like Russia and China.
The social media giant has changed the label again, opting for the term “crowd-funded media.”
Elon Musk, who is also the head of Tesla, does not hide his contempt for the media. Recently, inquiries from the press to Twitter’s communications service have been automatically emailed with an emoticon shaped like a bowel movement.
With the Canadian Press