Radio-Canada, CBC returning to Twitter

Canada’s public broadcaster CBC and its French-language arm Radio-Canada said Tuesday that they were returning to Twitter after the social media site removed a “government-funded media” label.

The outlets had paused posting on Twitter on April 17 because of the tag which they said unfairly questioned their editorial independence.

“In the case of CBC/Radio-Canada this labeling is untrue and deceptive,” they said in a statement at the time.

While the broadcaster is publicly funded, its editorial independence is protected under Canadian broadcasting law, they said.

Luce Julien, executive director of Radio-Canada, said it and the CBC would now resume posting on certain Twitter accounts because it is essential to provide credible information to the public.

“Twitter generates very little direct traffic in the Canadian radio ecosystem,” Julien said, but it remains an influential platform.

“We owe it to ourselves as a public media company to be active there and to continue to disseminate verified information.”

Julien also said Radio-Canada will not pay to receive a blue verification tick from Twitter, saying the checkmarks are no longer a guarantee of credibility.

Radio-Canada and CBC’s exit from Twitter followed that of National Public Radio in the United States over the same tag, which had also been applied to the BBC before the British broadcaster successfully petitioned to have it changed to “publicly-funded.”

© 2023 AFP