The Council of State is expected to rule soon in the case brought up by MLSA on RTÜK’s licensing imposition
The Council State is expected to rule soon in the case brought up by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) against the 2019 regulation which has given unprecedented powers to the Radio and Television Supreme Council and Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).
On August 9th, 2019, the Legal Team of MLSA brought up a lawsuit against the regulation titled “Regulation on the Presentation of Radio, Television and On-Demand Broadcasting on the Internet” which has recently been hotly debated as it has been instrumentalized to target international media outlets like Deutsche Welle (DW), Voice of Americal (VOA) and EuroNews. The lawsuit was brought up on the grounds that “the regulation is in defiance of the principle of the equal protection of law and the freedoms of the press and expression which are guaranteed by the Constitution of Turkey and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In its petition to the Council of State, the attorneys of the MLSA stated that through the vagueness of the wording and the reach of the regulation, RTÜK and BTK are granted the opportunity to exercise their powers in an arbitrary manner. The attorneys also emphasized that the licensing fee up to 100.000 Turkish Liras which broadcasters are obligated to obtain is an unaffordable financial burden on the platforms and thereby serve as a deterrent for such platforms.
In its defense submitted to the Council of State on November 29th, 2019, BTK requested that the case be rejected on the grounds that “MLSA lacks the capacity to sue since the issue does not fall within the scope of the association’s activities.”
Describing the case brought up by MLSA as “unjust, irregular and wrongful”, RTÜK reiterated the statements of BTK in its defense submitted to the Council of State December 3rd, 2019. Arguing that those outlets which aim to broadcast on the internet are required by law to possess paid-in-capital higher than the maximum amount of the licensing fee, RTÜK argued that the amount of the licensing fee cannot be considered as deterrent as the outlets are also given the opportunity to pay for it in installments.
The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Council of State presented its opinion on January 13th, 2021 and reiterated the defense submitted by BTK and RTÜK. The prosecutor argued that the case should be dismissed. Arguing that the prosecutor had tried to justify the articles of the regulation in question with references to the articles themselves, the MLSA attorneys emphasized the fact the opinion lacks any profound legal evaluation of the application.