CBC Postpones Activities On Twitter After Accused Of "Government Funded Media" By Elon Musk

CBC protested because it was labeled on Twitter as state-funded media. (photo: dock. cbc.ca)

JAKARTA - Twitter owner Elon Musk on Monday 17 April responded to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which announced it would delay activity on the social media site. It is also a debate that also involves Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his conservative rival Pierre Poiliovre.

On Sunday, April 16, several CBC Twitter accounts began to get "Government-funded media" labels. CBC replied that they were not funded by the government, but "publicly financed through parliamentary budgets selected by all MPs."

"Our jurnalism is impartial and independent. Aiming for the opposite is not true. That's why we postponed our activities on @Twitter," CBC said on Monday.

The cluster also said that ads help cover their costs on all platforms.

"I'm just trying to be accurate. Would they be fine if we said 70% was funded by the government?" Musk tweeted, on his Twitter account.

On Monday, Trudeau also accused Poilievre of asking the US billionaire to attack Canadian public broadcasters after Poilievre pushed Musk to refer to CBC as a lembanga "funded by the government".

Poilievre said on Twitter last week that he had written to Musk to request that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation be mentioned "accurably".

Poilievre, who took over the party last year and is campaigning to cut CBC funding, celebrated the decision, saying on Twitter that "now people know that this is Trudeau propaganda, not news."

Speaking to reporters, Trudeau said: "Attacking this Canadian institution, attacking local culture and content so important to so many Canadians, really reflects the values and approaches proposed by Mr. Poilievre.

"In an attempt to attack this institution which is important to many Canadians, he is seeking the help of American billionaires, the tech giants they continue to defend," Trudeau said.

The Trudeau minority government is supported by the left-handed New Democrats Party and general elections are not scheduled until 2025.

Last week, the US broadcaster National Public Radio said it would no longer post content to their 52 official Twitter accounts in protest against the label given by the social media platform which implies the government's involvement in its content.