Republic of Türkiye

[TR] Broadcasting Ban because of Pokemon

IRIS 2001-1:1/26

Kristina Dahl

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

The Turkish Radio and Television Supervisory Authority (RTÜK) has issued private Turkish television station ATV with a one-day broadcasting ban because it broadcast Pokemon films.

The decision was taken on the grounds that the films contained violent scenes, which could be harmful to children. It followed an incident when a four-year old Turkish boy jumped from the seventh floor of a building and broke his leg. He later said that he had wanted to fly like a Pokemon.

The Turkish Ministry of Health had already announced before the ban was imposed that it considered the cartoons to be dangerous and warned that children might imitate the characters' actions.