Iraq’s Shia-led authorities have shut the offices of two television channels popular with Sunni Iraqis and ordered a satirical show off air, tightening control over the media as political tensions rise in Baghdad. The crackdown, which began in March, appears to be prompted by concerns that the channels could enflame sectarian rivalries which over-stretched security forces would struggle to contain. But it also raises fears over freedom of expression in Iraq.
The Communication and Media Commission (CMC), has shut down the Baghdad office of the pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, closed the local TV channel Al-Baghdadia, and ordered a halt to broadcasts of the satirical Albasheer Show.
It said Al Jazeera and Albasheer Show, which mocks powerful Iraqi figures in the spirit of The Daily Show in the United States or France’s Le Petit Journal, have violated a code of professional conduct.
The CMC is a state authority tasked with implementing government policy. It gave few details and declined requests for comment.
Iraq’s Shia-led authorities have shut the offices of two television channels popular with Sunni Iraqis and ordered a satirical show off air, tightening control over the media as political tensions rise in Baghdad. The crackdown, which began in March, appears to be prompted by concerns that the channels could enflame sectarian rivalries which over-stretched security forces would struggle to contain. But it also raises fears over freedom of expression in Iraq.
The Communication and Media Commission (CMC), has shut down the Baghdad office of the pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, closed the local TV channel Al-Baghdadia, and ordered a halt to broadcasts of the satirical Albasheer Show.
It said Al Jazeera and Albasheer Show, which mocks powerful Iraqi figures in the spirit of The Daily Show in the United States or France’s Le Petit Journal, have violated a code of professional conduct.
The CMC is a state authority tasked with implementing government policy. It gave few details and declined requests for comment.
