Twitter’s Unilateral Labeling of Public Media as “Media Financed by the Government” Sparks Controversy

“These labels on the RTVE Twitter accounts are wrong and contrary to the essence of Radiotelevisión Española. The Corporation reiterates editorial independence as one of its hallmarks”, reads the RTVE statement, which expresses its “total disagreement” with the decision of the social network.

Twitter has placed the aforementioned label on several of the agency’s official accounts, such as RTVE, RTVE News, RTVE Communication and Participation and RTVE Play. Others such as Teledeporte have not received this qualification. The public entity suggests that “if applicable, it be replaced by Publicly funded medium”.

“RTVE is a public medium that is financed through a general budget allocation approved by parliament, as well as two other sources of private financing,” the same statement explains. “The editorial independence and that of the workers of the Corporation by the Government or any body or representative of the Public Administration is protected by Law 17/2006, of June 5, on state-owned radio and television” he remembers.

Musk’s decision to label Western public broadcasters a “government-funded media outlet” came after the BBC published various reports about his management of the platform. The billionaire did not agree with the coverage of the British chain and since then began to publicly criticize his independence.

The billionaire then decided to place the controversial label on the public media, starting with the BBC and continuing with the state broadcasters of the US and Canada. The British chain protested and now has the label of “media financed with public money” that RTVE suggests. Their American and Canadian counterparts have stopped updating their profiles on the platform to show their disagreement with the rating.

The classification of Canadian broadcaster as a “government-funded media outlet” came shortly after the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, asked Musk to name the entity that way. Poilievre is a politician who emulates Trump’s communication style and who had used the public channel as a regular target to attack President Justin Trudeau. He also personally criticizes his journalists when they ask him questions at his press conferences.

elDiario.es has asked Twitter about the decision to classify RTVE as a “media funded by the Government” and if it considers accepting their request to change it. His email for press inquiries has returned an automated response with the “💩” emoji, as it has been doing for several weeks.