Twitter removes 'government-funded media' tags, blue checks

Twitter removed the "government-funded media" tag on public broadcasters, including the CBC, on Thursday without any explanation.

The move came after the Global Task Force for Public Media called on Twitter earlier in the day to correct its description of public broadcasters in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

The group chaired by CBC president Catherine Tait had said Twitter applied the label without warning to the accounts of CBC/Radio-Canada, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (known as ABC), the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

It noted that Twitter's own policy defines government-funded media as those that may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.

WATCH / Explaining the objections of public broadcasters:

The task force said that was not the case here, where editorial independence is protected by law and enshrined in editorial policies.

It said the most accurate label would be "publicly funded media."

Twitter initially labelled several accounts with the British Broadcasting Corporation "government-funded media," but changed that to "publicly funded media" after the BBC objected.

The BBC is also a member of the Global Task Force, as well as France Télévisions, Germany's ZDF and Sweden's SVT.

"Labelling them in this way misleads audiences about their operational and editorial independence from government," the task force said Thursday in a release.

CBC raised similar objections, and Brodie Fenlon, editor-in-chief and executive director of programs and standards for CBC News, explained why the media organization was pausing activity on its Twitter accounts.

"We cannot in good conscience continue to post fact-based news and information to Twitter, or engage on it, while a false impression of government involvement in our work is allowed to stand," Fenlon wrote. "As a news organization committed to truth, facts and accuracy, we cannot abide by a label that promotes disinformation about who we are and what we do."

CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said Friday the organization is "reviewing this latest development and will leave our [Twitter] accounts on pause before taking any next steps."

Twitter also dropped the "state-affiliated media" tag on the accounts of China's Xinhua News and Russia's RT.