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Turkiye blocks instant messaging platform Discord

Turkiye blocks instant messaging platform Discord
Turkiye’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority published the Discord access ban decision on its website. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 09 October 2024
Reuters
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Turkiye blocks instant messaging platform Discord

Turkiye blocks instant messaging platform Discord
  • Ankara decided to remove access due to sufficient suspicion that the crimes of ‘child sexual abuse and obscenity’ have been committed
Updated 09 October 2024
Reuters
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ISTANBUL: Turkiye has blocked access to instant messaging platform Discord following a court decision, the country’s infotech regulator said on Wednesday.
Turkiye’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the access ban decision on its website.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said a court in the capital Ankara decided to remove access from Turkiye to San Francisco-based Discord due to sufficient suspicion that the crimes of “child sexual abuse and obscenity” have been committed.
“We are determined to protect our youth and children, from the harmful publications of social media and the Internet that constitute crimes. We will never allow attempts to shake the foundations of our social structure,” Tunc also said in a post on X.
The access ban decision comes after public outrage caused by the murder of two women, perpetrated by a 19-year-old man earlier this month.
Following the incident, content on social media showed some users of Discord were praising the killing which led to public outrage against certain communities on the platform.
On Tuesday, Russia’s communications regulator blocked Discord for violating Russian law, after previously fining the company for failing to remove banned content, the TASS news agency reported.

Topics: Turkiye social media Discord

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BBC apologizes over Gaza documentary narrated by son of Hamas figure

Updated 1 min 55 sec ago
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BBC apologizes over Gaza documentary narrated by son of Hamas figure

BBC apologizes over Gaza documentary narrated by son of Hamas figure
Updated 1 min 55 sec ago
The broadcaster said that it shared the blame for the “unacceptable” flaws with the production company
“BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologize“

LONDON: The BBC apologized on Thursday for “serious flaws” in the making of a Gaza documentary after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of Hamas’s former deputy minister of agriculture.
The BBC removed its documentary, “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone,” from its platform after a backlash and launched an immediate review into the “mistakes,” which it called “significant and damaging.”
The BBC said in a press release published Thursday that the review had identified “serious flaws in the making of this program,” which was produced by UK company Hoyo Films.
The broadcaster said that it shared the blame for the “unacceptable” flaws with the production company.
“BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologize,” it added.
The independent production company was asked in writing “a number of times” during the making of the documentary about any potential connections the narrator might have with Hamas.
“Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy’s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact,” said the press release.
“It was then the BBC’s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.”
The production company also revealed that they paid the boy’s mother “a limited sum of money” for the narration.
The BBC is seeking additional assurance that no money was paid directly or indirectly to Hamas.
UK culture minister Lisa Nandy told parliament earlier Thursday that she had demanded “cast-iron” guarantees that Hamas did not receive any money for the documentary after the opposition Conservative party brought an urgent question and called for a public inquiry.
“I also held discussions with the BBC director general earlier this week, at my request, in order to seek urgent answers about the checks and due diligence that should have been carried out,” she added.
The revelations sparked an angry response and led to protests outside the BBC’s London headquarters.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: “The BBC’s bias and lack of accountability have led it to a new low, where it is a mouthpiece for terrorists and their supporters.”
The Telegraph also reported Tuesday that the Arabic words for Jew or Jews were changed to Israel or Israeli forces or removed from the documentary.
The broadcaster is now working to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted “in relation to shortcomings in the making of this program.”
“This will include issues around the use of language, translation and continuity that have also been raised with the BBC,” it said.
The decision to remove the documentary from its catch-up service also led to criticism, with more than 500 TV and film workers — including former England footballer Gary Lineker — sending an open letter calling the move “politically-motivated censorship.”
“This film is an essential piece of journalism, offering an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinian children living in unimaginable circumstances, which amplifies voices so often silenced,” said the letter.
The documentary was initially broadcast on February 17.

White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting

White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting
Updated 27 February 2025
Reuters
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White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting

White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting
  • Move follows White House announcement that it would limit media access to the President in smaller spaces
Updated 27 February 2025
Reuters

WASHINGTON: The White House on Wednesday denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration’s new policy regarding media coverage.
The White House denied access to an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.
TV crews from ABC and Newsmax, along with correspondents from Axios, the Blaze, Bloomberg News and NPR were permitted to cover the event.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the White House would determine which media outlets would cover the president in smaller spaces such as the Oval Office.
The White House Correspondents’ Association has traditionally coordinated the rotation of the presidential press pool. Reuters, an international wire service, has participated in the pool for decades.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while traditional media organizations would still be permitted to cover Trump on a day-to-day basis, the administration plans to change who participates in smaller spaces. The pool system, administered by the WHCA, allowed select television, radio, wire, print and photojournalists to cover events and share their reporting with the broader media.
The three wire services that have traditionally served as permanent members of the White House pool, the AP, Bloomberg and Reuters, on Wednesday released a statement in response to the new policy.
The services “have long worked to ensure that accurate, fair and timely information about the presidency is communicated to a broad audience of all political persuasions, both in the United States and globally. Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires,” the statement from the three organizations said.
“It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press.”
HuffPost called the White House decision a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.
Der Tagesspiegel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the WHCA also issued a statement protesting the new White House policy.
The move follows the Trump administration’s decision to bar the Associated Press from being in the pool because it has declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, the name Trump has assigned the body of water, or update its widely followed stylebook to reflect such a change.
Leavitt said the five major cable and broadcast television networks would continue to hold their rotating seats in the pool while the White House would add streaming services. Rotating print reporters and radio reporters would continue to be included, while new outlets and radio hosts would be added.

Topics: Reuters AP Trump Returns US media

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Sharjah Media City to launch new production studios project

Sharjah Media City to launch new production studios project
Updated 27 February 2025
Arab News
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Sharjah Media City to launch new production studios project

Sharjah Media City to launch new production studios project
  • STUDIOI to design Shams Studios hub, construction contract to be announced later this year
Updated 27 February 2025
Arab News

LONDON: Sharjah Media City, or Shams, has awarded a design contract for its planned media production hub.

The design of Shams Studios will be undertaken by STUDIOI, a UAE-based engineering firm behind projects including The Park Hyatt Hotel in Riyadh and SHA Island near Al-Jurf, Abu Dhabi, according to reports on Thursday.

“The Shams Studios project reflects our unwavering commitment to developing a cutting-edge infrastructure that aligns with the latest global advancements in media and production,” said Rashid Abdullah Al-Obad, director of Shams.

“This is not just an investment in facilities; it is an investment in the future,” he added.

The facility will include five studios, each spanning 1,710 sq. meters, with a total area of 38,136 sq. meters.

It will also have post-production facilities including editing suites, visual-effects technologies, and sound-processing rooms.

The complex will have 20 creative units available for short- and long-term use, as well as workspaces, offices, meeting rooms, hotel, and accommodation for actors and production teams.

The construction contract is expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Topics: Sharjah Media City

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Hundreds of media figures call on BBC to reinstate Gaza documentary

Hundreds of media figures call on BBC to reinstate Gaza documentary
Updated 26 February 2025
Arab News
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Hundreds of media figures call on BBC to reinstate Gaza documentary

Hundreds of media figures call on BBC to reinstate Gaza documentary
  • BBC pulled ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ after it was revealed that one of its narrators, a 14-year-old boy, is the son of a Hamas deputy agriculture minister
  • Signatories, including Gary Lineker, Ken Loach and Jasleen Kaur Sethi, defended the documentary as ‘an essential piece of journalism’
Updated 26 February 2025
Arab News

LONDON: Hundreds of media figures have called on the BBC to reinstate its documentary on children and women living in Gaza, condemning its removal as a blow to journalistic integrity.

In an open letter sent to BBC executives on Wednesday, prominent figures — including English sports broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker, filmmaker Ken Loach and “Game of Thrones” actor Indira Varma — criticized the network’s decision to pull “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” calling it an “essential piece of journalism.”

The signatories argued that the documentary offers “a rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians” and claimed that some of the criticism against it was rooted in “racist assumptions and the weaponization of identity.”

The BBC removed the documentary from its online platform, iPlayer, after it emerged that the narrator, 14-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of a Hamas official — a fact the network said had not been disclosed by the film’s producers.

The decision followed backlash from several Jewish journalists and media watchdogs, who questioned whether the BBC had unknowingly paid a Hamas-affiliated individual and criticized the broadcaster for failing to uphold commissioning standards. In response, the BBC pulled the documentary pending a “due diligence” review.

The documentary, produced by independent company Hoyo Films, was based on nine months of footage filmed in the lead-up to last month’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire. It followed the lives of three children as they navigated the war.

The letter — also signed by actors Khalid Abdalla, India Amarteifio, Miriam Margolyes, Ruth Negga and Juliet Stevenson — did not dispute the narrator’s family ties to Hamas but argued that his father, Dr. Ayman Al-Yazouri, served as Gaza’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, a “civil service role concerned with food production.”

“Conflating such governance roles in Gaza with terrorism is both factually incorrect and dehumanizing,” read the letter. “This broad-brush rhetoric assumes that Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence — a racist trope that denies individuals their humanity and right to share their lived experiences.”

The signatories also condemned the backlash against Abdullah, saying criticism of his involvement ignored “core safeguarding principles.” They emphasized that children “must not be held responsible for the actions of adults, and weaponizing family associations to discredit a child’s testimony is both unethical and dangerous.”

Warning of the broader implications of the BBC’s decision, the letter argued that removing the documentary “sets a dangerous precedent.”

It added: “As media professionals, we are extremely alarmed by the intervention of political actors, including foreign diplomats, and what this means for the future of broadcasting in this country,” it added. “If every documentary made in conflict zones were subjected to this level of politicized scrutiny regarding contributors, filmmaking in these areas would become virtually impossible.”

Topics: BBC Gaza Gary Lineker Ken Loach

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Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage

Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage
Updated 26 February 2025
AFP
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Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage

Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage
  • World’s third-richest man said the newspaper will no longer run views opposed to “personal liberties and free markets”
Updated 26 February 2025
AFP

WASHINGTON: The Washington Post will no longer run views opposed to “personal liberties and free markets” on its opinion pages, its owner Jeff Bezos announced on Wednesday, the latest intervention by the billionaire in the major US paper’s editorial operations.
“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” wrote Bezos on social media platform X.
“We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”
The move, a major break from the norm on opinion pages at the Post and at most credible news media organizations worldwide, comes as US media face increasing threats to their freedom and accusations of bias from President Donald Trump.
In October, Bezos sparked controversy by blocking the Post’s planned endorsement of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election, triggering newsroom protests and subscriber cancelations.
And in January, an award-winning political cartoonist for the newspaper announced her resignation after a cartoon depicting Bezos groveling before Trump was rejected.
At the time, editorial page editor David Shipley defended the decision, saying it was made to avoid repeated coverage on the same topic.
On Wednesday, Bezos announced Shipley would be leaving his post because he had not signed on to the new opinion pages policy.
“I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no,’” said Bezos.
Other Post staffers also expressed their concern.
“Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today — makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there,” said Jeff Stein, the paper’s chief economics correspondent, on X.
Stein added that he had “not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately.”
Amazon owner and world’s third-richest man Bezos, along with other US tech moguls, have appeared increasingly close to Trump since his election last year.
Bezos was among a group of tech billionaires who were given prime positions at Trump’s inauguration, and he visited the Republican at his Mar-a-Lago estate during the transition period.
In his post on Wednesday, Bezos said the Post did not have to provide opposing views because “the Internet does that job.”

Topics: Jeff Bezos US

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