The legislation in August 2019 gives RTÜK the authority to regulate online radio, television and on-demand broadcasting in Turkey.
Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) has blocked the websites of German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the websites of the international broadcaster Voice of America (VoA) over licensing issues, reported Deutsche Welle.
The internet services of the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) in all 32 programme languages have been blocked in Turkey.
“Access to the websites of DW Turkish and VOA Turkish from Turkey has been blocked on the grounds that no license application has been made to RTÜK,” DW wrote on Twitter
In February 2022, the Turkish authority responsible for media control, RTÜK, called on DW and other international broadcasters to obtain a license in Turkey.
DW said in a statement that it did not comply, as “licensing would have allowed the Turkish government to censor editorial content.”
DW Director General Peter Limbourg said: “We had outlined in extensive correspondence and even in a personal conversation with the chairman of the media control authority why DW could not apply for such a license. For example, media licensed in Turkey are required to delete online content that RTÜK interprets as inappropriate. This is simply unacceptable for an independent broadcaster. DW will take legal action against the blocking that has now taken place.”
Online content providers are required to obtain a fresh license to continue broadcasting in the country and comply with the RTÜK guideline, according to Turkey’s new regulation.
The legislation in August 2019 gives RTÜK the authority to regulate online radio, television and on-demand broadcasting in Turkey.
