Request for Review: CBC News Social Media Practices During the Canada-US Trade Conflict

Dear CBC Ombudsman,

I am writing as a Canadian taxpayer and CBC Gem subscriber to request a formal review of CBC News' practice of directing audiences to "join the conversation" on X, Reddit, and LinkedIn at the end of news articles and broadcasts.

Canada and the United States are currently locked in an escalating trade conflict. After trade talks collapsed and the US imposed new tariffs on Canadian goods, Prime Minister Carney told reporters plainly: "You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked." That is not my characterization - it is our own Prime Minister's.

Given that, I believe it is a legitimate journalistic standards question whether CBC News should keep routing its audience toward foreign-owned, US-controlled platforms - platforms that generate advertising revenue and data for American companies - in the middle of this dispute, without any acknowledgment of the conflict that creates.

I am asking your office to review whether this practice is consistent with CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices, and to publish your findings.

I understand that advertising and general audience engagement fall outside your office's mandate. I am directing my broader complaint about CBC's overall social media strategy to CBC Audience Relations separately, and am raising this specific question with you because it touches directly on how CBC News chooses to present and promote its own journalism.

Reann Legge
I use the pronouns she/her
reannlegge.ca