Turkish channels fined for airing vulgar language during Istanbul rallies

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council’s (RTÜK) fined two channels for broadcasting vulgar language amid live streams from Istanbul rallies, according to daily Hürriyet.

Ulusal TV and Beyaz TV were fined a total of 23,772 Turkish Liras, with over 11,000 each, for airing separate cases of live interviews where the speaker used vulgar language.

The footage that got Ulusal TV in trouble was aired during the Gezi protests, when one of the protesters, taking refuge in a hotel, was asked to comment.

The protester can be seen breaking into a rant against the prime minister that starts with, “What have our kids done? The prime minister, that damn prime minister, where are you?” before ending it with the use of vulgar speech, telling the prime minister to “**** off.”

Beyaz TV was also fined for a similar incident, where a woman at a ruling party Justice and Development Party (AKP) rally goes on about main opposition Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, claiming Erdoğan to be “the people’s owner” and describing her loyalty to the prime minister via vulgar speech.

RTÜK fines are settled in accordance with the channel’s previous month’s advertising gains, ranging from one to three percent of total ad income.