After Russia, Erdogan is also flirting with a ban on Deutsche Welle

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not considered a friend of the press critical of the government. Now Deutsche Welle could be blocked in Turkey.

Ankara – After Deutsche Welle (DW) was banned from broadcasting in Russia* Apparently the next autocratic ruler now wants to tighten the thumbscrews at German foreign broadcasters: the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan*. The online program of the station is threatened in the Turkey* the blocking.

“After the local media in Turkey already comprehensive regulation* are now subject to an attempt to restrict international media in their reporting,” criticized DW Director General Peter Limbourg on Tuesday (February 22, 2022).

Deutsche Welle wants to go to court in Turkey over the threat of a ban

On Monday (February 21, 2022), the Turkish broadcasting authority (RTÜK) officially asked the German foreign broadcaster and other foreign media to apply for a license for on-demand offers. “This measure does not relate to formal aspects of the distribution of programs, but to the journalistic content itself. It gives the Turkish authorities the opportunity to block the entire offer on the basis of individual, critical reports if these reports are not deleted. This would open up the possibility of censorship. We will appeal against this and take legal action in Turkish courts,” said Limbourg.

The Turkish cyber rights activist Yaman Akdeniz also told the German Press Agency (dpa) that the licensing would result in “serious political interference with editorial independence”.

RTÜK’s decision was also aimed at the Turkish branches of the US foreign broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) and the European broadcaster Euronews. They were all given a 72-hour deadline to apply on Monday. If the license is not applied for within the period, the blocking will be requested from the court, according to the RTÜK statement. VOA also announced that it intends to object to the request.

Erdogan is taking action against the media in Turkey – not only Deutsche Welle is affected

The request to apply for a license is based on a regulation that came into force in 2019. The Turkish government has introduced far-reaching controls over Internet platforms that distribute films, videos or radio content. Representatives close to the government have a majority in the RTÜK body. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced that he will take action against media content that contradicts “national values”.*.

Russia had a in early February Broadcasting ban imposed on Deutsche Welle* after the TV broadcast of the Russian state medium RT DE (Russia Today Deutsch) was stopped in Germany. (tvd/dpa) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.