Elon Musk changes Canadian broadcaster CBC's label on Twitter to '69% government funded'

Elon Musk's latest Twitter spat has seen Canada's national broadcaster boycott the platform after the Tesla billionaire added a label saying '69% government funded.'

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and its sister network Radio Canada said they'd stop tweeting on their official accounts Monday in response to the label.

Musk's label is almost accurate - the CBC  received 65.2 per cent of its $1.2bn CAD ($900m USD) - from Canada's government in the last financial year. 

But bosses there are angry Musk has implied they're not editorially-independent, with the tycoon previously prompting a similar boycott from NPR after flagging its government funding. 

Last year, a former staffer walked out of CBC and blew the whistle on what she claimed was a fixation with progressive social justice issues and dishonest reporting slanted in favor of left-wing causes. 

A new label applied to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Twitter profile labeled it 69 percent government-funded, prompting a boycott from the broadcaster

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau criticized the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, who initially wrote to Musk last week suggesting the CBC should be labeled government-funded

Elon Musk is pictured with his son X Æ A-Xii at the POSSIBLE marketing conference in Miami Tuesday

On Monday, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau criticized both the move and the leader of Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, who initially wrote to Musk last week suggesting label should apply to the CBC.

Labels applied to Twitter profiles in recent years have become a point of contention - well before Musk took over the social media platform last year - but they were previously mainly associated with propaganda outlets in Russia and China.

Last week NPR and PBS in the US also quit Twitter after Musk branded them 'government-funded media' and accused them of not being 'editorially independent'.

Similarly the BBC successfully lobbied to have its 'government-funded tag' removed earlier this month and Musk eventually obliged by replacing it with 'publicly-funded media'.

The controversy in Canada began last week when the Poilievre, sent an open letter to Musk saying the label should be applied to the CBC 'in the interest of transparency'. 

Then on Sunday, some CBC Twitter feeds started carrying the label 'government-funded Media.' 

The CBC replied that it is not government funded, but that it is 'publicly funded through a parliamentary appropriation that is voted upon by all Members of Parliament'.

Critics said that was indeed the definition of government funding.  

The CBC's board of directors determines how the funding it receives is spent. Then on Monday the CBC said it would pause its Twitter activities over the labeling.

'Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter,' the CBC said.

The move caused Trudeau to attack his Conservative opponent Poilievre.

Speaking to reporters that day, 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.

In 2021-22, the CBC received more than $1.2 billion Canadian in government funding

A 'community note' fact-checking tag clarified under Musk's tweet that over 2021-2022 the corporation was around 66 percent government-funded

'In order to attack this institution that is important for many, many Canadians, he runs to American billionaires, the tech giants that they continue to defend,' he added.

Musk even responded to a clip of Trudeau speaking, saying: 'What’s he talking about and why is it sponsored by Erik’s son?'

He was presumably referring to the fact that behind Trudeau was branding for telecommunications company Ericsson.

Trudeau's comments cam during a conference announcing that the Canadian federal government was embarking on a $470-million five-year research and development partnership with Ericsson Canada.

Musk also then poked fun at the CBC by revising its label again.

'Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they're 'less than 70% government-funded', so we corrected the label,' wrote Musk on Twitter later on Monday.

A 'community note' fact-checking tag clarified under Musk's tweet that over 2021-2022 the corporation was around 66 percent government-funded. 

Last week, US broadcaster NPR said it would no longer post content to its 52 official Twitter feeds in protest against a 'government-funded' label.