The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) faced criticism from Republicans, including FBI Director Kash Patel, over a memo instructing its journalists not to refer to the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States as terrorism. The memo comes as tensions remain high between the United States and Canada amid an escalating trade war and after President Donald Trump renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. However, the guidance is unrelated to the growing tensions between the two longtime allies and was instead a reminder of a longstanding policy held by the news organization.
Kerry Kelly, a CBC spokesperson, told Newsweek it is the news organization’s practice “to exercise extreme caution before using the words terrorist and terrorism.” “The memo was a reminder of the longstanding practice that favours the use of these terms with attribution in our reporting, a practice shared by many of the world’s top journalistic organizations,” Kelly said. The criticism comes just weeks ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, which killed nearly 3,000 people. The memo was first reported by Warren Kinsella, a columnist for The Toronto Sun.
It reminded journalists with the CBC, “Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks.” He posted a screenshot of the memo to X, where it quickly garnered attention and criticism from American conservatives. Patel criticized the policy in a post to X. The CBC is Canada's national broadcaster and receives taxpayer funding, though it sets its own editorial policies separate from the Canadian government.
Government agencies in Canada have referred to the attacks as terrorist acts or terrorism. The House GOP, in a post on Instagram, accused the CBC of “trying to rewrite history,” saying there is “nothing controversial, complicated, or unclear about this.” Representative Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, wrote in a post to X, “WOW: The Canadian Broadcast Center told staff NOT to call 9/11 a terrorist attack. 9/11 is one of the DARKEST DAYS in our history — nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered by terrorists. Say the word: TERRORISM.” Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, shared an article about the policy, adding, “Maybe we shouldn’t call Canada a ‘friendly country.’” Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, also condemned the policy in a post on X.
It dishonours the victims and their families, the survivors, and the first responders who suffered from the horrors of that day,” he wrote. CBC’s focus is to “report the facts of such atrocities with accuracy, clarity and detail; to convey the scale and scope of violent acts wherever they occur; to quote the people affected, and to convey the views of officials and experts on these events,” Kelly said. But CBC News does not itself designate specific groups as terrorists, or specific acts as terrorism, regardless of the region or the events, because these words are so loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that they can end up being impediments to our journalism,” she said.
CBC General Manager and Editor-in-Chief Brodie Fenlon explained how the organization approaches the phrase “terrorist” in a blog post published in 2023, after Hamas’ attack against Israel. Fenlon wrote that the term is not banned at the CBC but must be used with attribution. That means they also tell the audience who has used it and in what context,” Fenlon said.
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