No sex, slang or booze: Turkish state is watching
New regulations requiring government oversight for online content are narrowing Turks' media world even further.
Have you heard of the show "3Below: Tales of Arcadia?" It's an animated children’s program on Netflix. In its second season, there is an episode where two preteens, both girls, talk about kissing and finally share a kiss. The scene became a burning issue for Turkey's pro-government media outlets in the last week of July. The coverage included censored images of the cartoon characters kissing.
Even before the episode aired, Islamist Yeni Akit newspaper was worried about the “trap of Netflix’s immorality.” It named several popular Netflix shows and even cartoons, calling them propaganda by perverts.
Turkish audiences are becoming all too familiar with blurred images, blocked-out words deemed inappropriate by the authorities and deleted scenes of anything remotely sex related. For example, one popular story is about Behzat C, a detective who loves his booze. It aired on Turkish TVs with lots of blurs for alcoholic beverages and bleeps for questionable language — which means most of the show was censored. Finally, the show's management said it would post the uncensored version on its website. The uncut versions of several sitcoms appear on YouTube, where they get more views than they did on TV.
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), whose powers have just been extended beyond radio and television, controls all media output in Turkey. On Aug. 1, the Turkish Official Gazette published long-expected regulations placing the RTUK in charge of online streaming platforms.
