Elon Musk Trolls CBC With ’69 Per Cent Government-Funded’ Twitter Tag
etcanada.comElon Musk is continuing to antagonize the public broadcasters On Monday, the Twitter owner decided to troll the CBC by changing its tag on the platform to read “69% Government-funded Media.” In a tweet, Musk explained that he had the label changed after the Canadian broadcaster had clarified that they are “less than 70% government-funded.” Later on Monday, the CBC announced that it would be pausing its activities on Twitter, explaining, “Our journalism is impartial and independent.
To suggest otherwise is untrue.” The move came after days of back-and-forth between Musk and the CBC over the labelling of the broadcaster as “Government-funded Media.” Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre, among others, had pushed Musk to add the label amid a similar row last week between Twitter and American public broadcaster NPR.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said, “Attacking this Canadian institution, attacking the culture and local content that is so important to so many Canadians, really indicates the values and the approach that Mr.
Poilievre is putting forward.” The CBC addressed the change over the weekend, noting that Twitter’s own policy stated the “Government-funded Media” tag applied to cases where the outlet “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.” As the CBC explained, the broadcasted is publicly funded, but has editorial independence under law.
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