Istanbul, February 9, 2022 \u2013 Turkish authorities must allow all news outlets to work freely, and should not use licensing regulations to harass or censor international outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalist said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, February 9, two members of the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the government telecommunications regulator known as RT\u00dcK, announced that the France-based outlet Euronews, the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA), and German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) must apply for broadcast licenses or else authorities would block their websites, according to news<\/a> reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those RT\u00dcK members, \u0130lhan Ta\u015f\u00e7\u0131<\/a><\/a> and Okan Konuralp<\/a>, both members of the opposition Republican People\u2019s Party, condemned the move in statements on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A majority of RT\u00dcK members ruled that, because Euronews, VOA, and DW host videos on their websites, they should be subject to the licensing requirements that regulate video broadcasters, Ta\u015f\u00e7\u0131 wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Turkish media regulator\u2019s reported ultimatum issued to Euronews, Voice of America, and Deutsche Welle is worrying and could severely limit their ability to work in the country,\u201d said Gulnoza Said, CPJ\u2019s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. \u201cNews outlets should not have to guess at the government\u2019s licensing requirements; the RT\u00dcK must immediately disclose any changes affecting those broadcasters, and give them ample time to comply with new policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ta\u015f\u00e7\u0131 tweeted that such licensing requirements would be the RT\u00dcK\u2019s first use of its authority to regulate online news media since the regulator was empowered to regulate online broadcasts in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The regulator has not published any official announcement about the licensing requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deutsche Welle<\/a> reported that it was aware of news reports about the decision, but had not received any formal notice. It said that, after the regulator\u2019s decision was officially posted on its website, the outlets would have 72 hours to apply for licenses or else have their websites blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ emailed Euronews and VOA for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously, in October 2020, the RT\u00dcK required the music streaming service Spotify<\/a> to apply for a license, and similarly gave the company 72 hours to comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Konuralp wrote that he believed the licensing requirements were \u201ca move to put pressure on the international media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ emailed RT\u00dcK for comment but did not receive any response.<\/p>\n\n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> and was authored by Erik Crouch.
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