PMA calls on Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council to reverse its decision to block access to the online Turkish-language news services of international broadcasters Deutsche Welle (DW) and Voice of America (VOA).

Access to Germany’s taxpayer-funded international broadcaster, DW, and the US Congress-funded, VOA, has been blocked in Turkey. The ruling was made on Thursday 30 June, and affects all 32 language services of DW, and the Turkish-language services of VOA.

This comes after the Ankara 1st Criminal Court of Peace ruled that access to their services would be blocked, following an application filed by Turkey’s media regulatory authority, Radyo ve Televizyon Üst Kurulu (RTÜK).

Both DW’s and VOA’s websites contain on-demand audio-visual content. RTÜK’s Supreme Council, which announced the Court’s verdict last Friday, argued that, as this is categorised under a “program basis”, the broadcasters need a licence to operate in Turkey under its 2019 regulation for online, on-demand radio and television services. The internet broadcasting regulation essentially puts public broadcasters in the same category as “pay to watch” digital platforms such as Netflix. It “obliges broadcasters to remove content that RTÜK does not find appropriate from their catalogues”, VOA reported.

In February, RTÜK issued the broadcasters a 72-hour ultimatum to apply for an online broadcasting license or risk having access to their websites blocked in Turkey.

DW and VOA refused to apply for the online broadcasting licence, citing the Turkish authorities’ use of legislation to legitimise censorship and control editorial content. While the privately-owned, France-based news outlet, Euronews – which was also included in the initial ultimatum – refused to apply for an online license, it complied with RTÜK’s regulations to remove content from its website and changed its format to avoid the licensing requirement. It was not included in the recent court hearing.

Read more: International broadcasters face potential ban in Turkey

RTÜK stated that it is “in favour of pluralism, free press, and free reporting by media organizations” and that the access ban would be terminated if the broadcasters were to obtain a license.

DW Director General, Peter Limbourg, reiterated why DW “could not apply for such a license”, referring to the pressure that critical media in Turkey are under to delete online content that RTÜK interprets as inappropriate. “This is simply unacceptable for an independent broadcaster,” he said, and confirmed that “DW will take legal action against the blocking that has now taken place.”

Various civil society organisations have called on RTÜK to reverse the block on DW and VOA. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated this is the “latest attempt to silence critical media as the country prepares to hold elections next year”.

 “Audiences in Turkey deserve access to fact-based news about the world around them. Despite this latest attack on press freedom, USAGM will not be deterred in its mission to support the free flow of information to people in Turkey and across the globe.” – Kelu Chao, Acting CEO of the US Agency for Global Media

The ban also takes place at a time when journalists’ safety and press freedom continue to be threatened in Turkey. There have also been increased concerns about a draft disinformation bill – billed as a “censorship bill” by critics – which seeks to criminalise the spread of misinformation with jail sentences of one to three years. The debate on the draft bill, which led to hundreds of local journalists taking to the streets in protest in recent weeks, has been postponed until parliament reopens in autumn.

“With the attempted blocking of Voice of America and Deutsche Welle, RTÜK has made an alarming choice to pave the way for internet censorship,” said Kelu Chao, Acting CEO of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM – the network which oversees VOA and other international broadcasters). “Audiences in Turkey deserve access to fact-based news about the world around them. Despite this latest attack on press freedom, USAGM will not be deterred in its mission to support the free flow of information to people in Turkey and across the globe.”

DW Türkçe and VOA Türkçe have provided details on Twitter of how to access their blocked content in Turkey.

PMA calls on the Council to reverse its decision and restore the ability for Turkish audiences to access these websites. The licence regulations are being used to stifle critical reporting. In a country with limited media freedom, it is critical audiences can read independent, public interest journalism.


Header image: A protest by journalists, bar association an unions in a demonstration which was organised by Izmir Journalists Association on June 21,2022 in Izmir, Turkey. Credit: idiltoffolo / Shutterstock.com