BREAKING: CBC labeled as ‘government-funded media’ by Twitter

According to Twitter, “government-funded media” is used for outlets "where the government provides some or all of the outlet's funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content."

PBS and NPR rage quit the platform in response to the decision to label them "government-funded media."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently asked Twitter CEO Elon Musk to add a "government-funded" label to the outlet’s account.

In response to the new label, Poilievre tweeted on Sunday that the “CBC officially exposed as ‘government-funded media.’ Now people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news."

The CBC is a Crown corporation and according to the outlet is “wholly owned by the state but operated at arm's length from government.” In the company's Twitter bio, the outlet boasts, "Funded by and serving all Canadians."

CBC corporate spokesperson Leon Mar said in a statement Sunday night, "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 added, "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."

According to the outlet’s 2021-2022 annual report, the CBC received $1.24 billion in government funding. In addition to $651 million in revenue, mostly from advertising. CBC reported $1.39 billion in government funding and $504 million in revenue in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Recently, Twitter began attaching labels to accounts, choosing from a list of possibilities including, "state-affiliated media," "government-funded media," and "publicly-funded media."

There have also been calls to attach the label to other outlets that receive government or public funding, including the BBC.