Prof. Dr. Yaman Akdeniz: Turkey could be the first country to block Netflix

Meltem AKYOL
İstanbul

Under the draft legislation, presented by AKP to the National Assembly, all kinds of regular Internet audio and video broadcasts will be subject to the supervision of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), via licenses. RTÜK will monitor broadcasters that are granted licences and licences that fail an audit will be revoked. On request of RTÜK, Magistrates’ Court Judges will order the blocking of broadcasting by those that do not have a license or had their licenses revoked.  

Prof. Dr Yaman Akdeniz analysed the draft legislation for Evrensel. According to Akdeniz, there are three major groups targeted with this draft legislation: Firstly, to close broadcasters such as Evrensel WebTV and Medyascope TV; secondly those like Arti TV, broadcasting from abroad; and thirdly commercial organisations such as Netflix.  

Akdeniz said that, at the request of RTÜK, Magistrates’ Court Judges could ban broadcasting institutions without licences or those with licences revoked. He stated, "We could even become the first country to block Netflix." Akdeniz emphasised that the new legislation targets not only ‘Adnan Hodja’ but also all news outlets that are in opposition. Akdeniz also commented on the suppression of the Internet in Turkey; he noted that there are over 150 thousand websites, over 100 thousand news sites, social media accounts and content that is blocked and unreachable from within Turkey as of today. 

EVRENSEL WEBTV, MEDYASCOPE TV, ARTI TV ARE TARGETED

What does the draft legislation entail? For example, does it cover broadcastings over the Internet by Evrensel?
Many platforms from Evrensel WebTV and Medyascope TV - broadcasting from within Turkey - to Arti TV - broadcasting from Germany - fall under the remit of this draft legislation. Those broadcasters that do not have a licence from RTÜK will have to apply for one. I think broadcasters in opposition are going to be affected most by this legislation and therefore if the draft passes through the Parliament they will be subjected to serious censorships.

'WE COULD BE THE FIRST COUNTRY TO BLOCK NETFLIX

What should we assume “commercial communication broadcasts at Turkey” mean?
Another problem with the law is the uncertainty of what exactly is meant by “commercial communication broadcasts at Turkey.” Services that broadcast over the Internet such as the Netflix and Amazon Prime could potentially need to obtain licenses to broadcast in Turkey. Otherwise, access to these platforms could also be blocked. If they don’t have a license or do not submit an application or their application is refused then we could be the first country to block Netflix.