Tech companies shouldn't be labelling media companies in ad hoc way: academic

TORONTO -

One academic says it's "terrible" to have tech companies labelling media accounts in the ad hoc and reactionary way Twitter has recently.

Sara Grimes says public- and government-funded classifications like Twitter gave the BBC and CBC are only valid and helpful, when they are based on an informed process.

The director of the University of Toronto's Knowledge Media Design Institute says inaccurate or overly simplified labels that are devoid of context are at best, ambiguous and at worst, a form of misinformation.

She says labels should instead be applied after a factual and transparent evaluation that uses clear and consistent definitions.

The labelling process must have the involvement of people with actual knowledge of how media companies operate or Grimes says the usefulness of labels is questionable at best.

Grimes's remarks come after CBC paused its use of Twitter on Monday because the social media company labelled it "government-funded media." Twitter CEO Elon Musk later had the label changed to "70% government-funded" and then "69% government-funded," despite CBC saying the labels were unfair because even with government funding, the broadcaster is editorially independent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.