Canada’s state broadcaster to join other nations’ gov’t-backed outlets in initiative to combat ‘misinformation’
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The ‘most threatening phenomena of our time,’ the program claims, is ‘unfettered online abuse’ in the form of misinformation and disinformation.
(LifeSiteNews) — The state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) will join a global “Public Spaces Incubator” initiative to combat online “misinformation” despite recently coming under fire from its Ombudsman for violating its ethics code.
Last Wednesday, the CBC announced it was joining along with European public broadcasters RTBF (Belgium), SRG SSR (Switzerland) and ZDF (Germany) to “to explore new ways for public service media to support citizen engagement and democratic discourse.”
As noted by the CBC, the “Public Spaces Incubator” program’s goal is to take on the “most threatening phenomena of our time,” which it claims is “unfettered online abuse” in the form of misinformation and disinformation.
“Online spaces that are free from disinformation, misinformation, harassment and abuse are near extinction,” CBC president Catherine Tait said.
“The social media environment has splintered into so many echo chambers that exclude diversity of opinion, discourage debate and silence dissent. Now is the time for public service media like CBC/Radio-Canada to play a role in reversing this trend.”
The “Public Spaces Incubator” program will be led by the non-governmental organization New_ Public, which is a project from the University of Texas at Austin and the National Conference on Citizenship.