Turkey restricts access to German and American websites

This article was last updated on July 1, 2022

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Turkey restricts access to media websites from Germany and the United States.

All of Deutsche Welle’s websites are no longer accessible in Turkey. Additionally, Voice of America’s Turkish-language website is no longer accessible.

The Turkish government has penalized the public broadcasters of Germany and the United States for not adhering to new guidelines that were implemented earlier this year.

Even if they are non-Turkish, news organizations bringing Turkish-language content must now seek for a license in Turkey. The Turkish media control agency, RTUK, now has direct control over them.

Consequences for freedom

These two news organizations declined to seek for a Turkish license because they feared the repercussions on their freedom of expression. “Media outlets in Turkey are compelled by law to delete information that RTUK deems objectionable. This is not appropriate for a news outlet that claims to be independent “The director of Deutsche Welle Peter Limbourg made the comments.

Another setback to press freedom in Turkey is apparent in the embargo of two well-known international media companies. In the run-up to June’s elections, human rights organisations say that repression in the country is on the rise.

Internet radios in Turkish

For a long time, Turkish media has been tightly controlled by the state. Turkey’s most important media channels are controlled by business people linked to the administration of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As a result, major broadcasters like as Deutsche Welle and Voice of America launched Turkish-language stations. Counterbalancing the pro-government media is a goal of theirs.

A legal challenge to the blockage has been announced by Deutsche Welle. Information regarding how Turkish viewers may still access Deutsche Welle and Voice of America using a VPN connection has been provided on their social media accounts.