Report: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Dictates that 9/11 Cannot Be Called a ‘Terror Attack’

CBC News Headquarters

As bad as the U.S. journalism complex can be, the trade plied by our neighbors above exists at levels lower. Imagine if PBS/NPR-level journalism was the predominant news source, and you get an idea how the government-backed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) operates. It routinely displays the worst of a government run outlet; consistently showing a leftist bias while shading the news towards particular narratives.

This framework has now been exposed by a report from the Toronto Sun that an editorial command has been delivered inside the CBC that borders on the insane. In an op-ed at that paper, columnist Brian Lilley says he has been privy to an internal from CBC upper management that defies common sense.

Next month will see the 25th anniversary of one of the darkest events on American soil, the targeted sucker punch on this country that took thousands of lives, brought down the Twin Towers, struck the Pentagon. This plunged us into a war on terror that in many ways has never ended.

That last sentence, apparently, would see me getting strung up on the editorial gallows in Canada. The memo cited by Brian Lilley has declared that going forward, and in time with the anniversary of the attacks, CBC journalists are forbidden from referring to that 9/11 assault as a terror attack. The insanity of this in not accidental nor interpretational. This was a direct and stern edict from the news outlet executive suites.

CBC can’t get anymore ridiculous right?
New memo tells CBC journalists not to call 9/11 a terrorist attack.
What do you think of this?https://t.co/qjl1S8zp48

— Brian Lilley (@brianlilley) August 26, 2026

This memo was generated from the office of Basem Boshra, who is the Senior Director of Journalistic Standards and Public Trust at CBC News. It states very plainly – “Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks“. This is not just a casual aside, made in the context of a larger general point being explained. It is written as a direct order. As Lilley explains: “Boshra states that all in bold letters, italicized, as if to emphasize the point. To make clear it is a directive, not a suggestion.”

The memo goes on, degrading itself by explaining that 9/11 merely involved bad actors who misappropriated airliners and it led to calamity, apparently. “The hijackings led to passenger jet crashes,” reads the copy.

This is the dismissive ignorance heard from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on the 9/11 tragedy (“Some people did something,”) writ as journalism style standards. How any news outlet can attempt to redefine the worst terror attacks witnessed as something on par with a tragic airline event is beyond disturbing. And this is from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, that country’s largest media entity, that draws $1.5 billion annually from government funds.

This is quite literally taking the shape of Orwellian state propaganda. There is no other way to classify a supposed news institution stooping down to this level of historical prevarication.

Lilley reached out to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for an explanation of things, and eventually he did receive comment. One of the spokespersons came back with this tortured explanation.

“CBC’s longstanding language guidance regarding the terms ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ is a preference for the use of these words with attribution, a practice shared by many of the world’s top journalistic organizations. Our general manager and editor in chief has written publicly in the past on the subject.”

This is as mealy-mouthed as one would expect. They are trying to suggest that the definition of “terrorism” is interpretational, and if the outlet were to use that term it would be assigning a definitive label on something that is in dispute. Just stop with this jelly-spine approach.

On display with this verbal dodge is the mindset that terrorism is not an agreed upon concept. Dictionaries have no such struggle. Government agencies spell out clearly what constitutes the acts of terror. The only reason to import the concept of vagueness on the matter is to intentionally reinterpret things in a new fashion. Why this is taking place is the larger mystery.

It is not clear if this approach to the 25th anniversary has been inspired by the various political conflicts between Canada and the Trump administration. But that guesswork is as valid as any other reasoning one can come up with for this level of obtuse editorial command. Reclassifying the most sterling example of a terminology is the practice of activist journalism.

If you cannot determine that hijacking airliners for the very definable purpose of targeting occupied structures in order to inflict the greatest casualty counts is “terrorism,” then you are no longer a news organization. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and CBC News has devolved into being propaganda mills.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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