Turkey may block access to DW, VoA as Euronews allowed to operate without licensing

The Radio and Television Supreme Council previously asked the Turkish services of the three outlets to get a license to continue operating in Turkey.

İstanbul

Turkey may block access to DW, VoA as Euronews allowed to operate without licensing

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The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has withdrawn the licensing request it made to Euronews' Turkish news portal while filing a request with a court to prevent access to the Turkish-language websites of Voice of America and Deutsche Welle.

The council previously asked the three outlets to apply for a license to continue operating.

After Euronews made some changes to its website, the RTÜK withdrew its request, said İlhan Taşcı and Okan Konuralp, two members of the council picked by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

"In today's [meeting of the] Supreme Council, the decision that tr.euronews.com is obliged to obtain a license was withdrawn because it changed its sections subject to licensing, video sections and broadcasting technique. The site will be able to continue without obtaining a license," Taşcı wrote on Twitter.

"Euronews stresses that it has removed the sections subject to licensing and has not deleted but moved the content to another section," Konuralp wrote.

As for DW and VoA, which previously refused to apply for a license and announced that they would take legal action against the RTÜK's request, Taşcı said access to these websites may be blocked.

"The process is at the stage of RTÜK's request to prevent access by taking the matter to court. If the Ankara Penal Judgeship of Peace approves the request of RTÜK, these two sites will not be accessible from Turkey."

On February 21, the RTÜK gave the three outlets 72 hours to apply for a license, citing a regulation obligating online platforms to obtain a license to continue operating in Turkey.

Since the regulation was issued, the council has asked several on-demand platforms and news outlets to apply for licenses.

RTÜK's authority to inspect online broadcasts

According to the "Regulation on Radio, Television and On_Demand Online Broadcasts" published on the Official Gazette on August 1, 2019, Internet platforms such as Netflix have been obliged to get a license from the RTÜK.

These websites also have to establish a company and pay taxes in Turkey so that they can continue operating in the country. The objective of the new legal regulation was explained as follows in the Official Gazette:

"The objective of this regulation is to establish procedures and principles as to the online broadcast and transmission of radio, television and voluntary broadcasting services; the broadcasting licences to be granted to media service providers and the authority of broadcast transmission to be given to platform operators; and the inspection of the related broadcasts."

It has also been indicated in the Gazette that the regulation in question will apply to "the private media service providing institutions that engage in online radio, television and voluntary broadcasts and the operators of these platforms that provide these broadcasting services."

(HA/VK)