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Censorship Feared Under Turkey's New Rules for Online Broadcasts

Carolyn Komatsoulis

   Turkish media freedom advocates are raising alarms about newly
   announced government powers to license, inspect and possibly censor
   online broadcasts in the country.
   The new regulations for the Radio and Television Supreme Council
   (RTÃK), the government's media regulator, were published this week in
   Turkey's Official Gazette.
   Among other things, the rules would impose licensing requirements and
   fees and allow the RTÃK to suspend programs and cancel licenses as
   sanctions for not complying with the rules.
   The regulations were drafted a year ago, saidYamanAkdeniz, a law
   professor at Istanbul Bilgi University whose expertise is online
   censorship.
   The move has potentially broad implications, he said, because anyone
   can transmit content on the internet these days. [1]About 2in5 people
   in Turkey say they get most of their news online, a Reuters Institute
   report found.

   'Censorship regime'
   Considering the country's history of blocking or punishing journalists
   and dissidents online, the new rules are "not a licensing regime, it's
   a censorship regime," Akdeniz said.
   "This is what happens in Turkey. We are talking about the country which
   blocks access to the Wikipedia platform for over two years," he said.
   One uncertainty about the regulations is how they will affect Netflix,
   the BBC, the Voice of America and other news and entertainment
   organizations that broadcast internet and mobile content in Turkey.
   A [2]summary of the regulations published by the global law firm Baker
   McKenzie said the rules cover foreign service providers that "broadcast
   internet content in Turkish aimed at persons in Turkey."
   Netflix released a statement saying the companywas watching
   developments. "Netflix has a loyal and growing fan base in Turkey,
   which values the diversity of content on our service," the statement
   said.

References

   1. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-11/Digital%20News%20Report%20-%20Turkey%20Supplement%202018%20FINAL.pdf
   2. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f1baa621-528e-4f95-9489-c52b1bc13f53

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