Advanced Television

Iran’s Press TV maintains distribution grumbles

January 21, 2013

By Chris Forrester

Despite Iran, and its broadcasting organisations having been proscribed internationally, Press TV is complaining that its latest banning (by satellite operator Hispasat) is “another hostile move against free speech” according to the Tehran-based broadcaster.

Press TV’s Spanish-language channel is called Hispan TV and it joins the other Press TV output in being banned by the USA and European governments and media regulators.

Press TV in a statement criticised Spain’s government for the move. “The Spanish government is applying in a very arbitrary way freedom of expression. What they are doing is that they are quoting the audiovisual communication law, and they consider that Hispan TV has violated two articles. Hispan TV has never promoted any kind of hatred. We are talking about women’s rights, which is one of the articles that is quoted in the actual decision of the Spanish government to cancel Hispan TV’s activities, saying depicting women in a discriminatory and offensive way. So are we showing naked women on television all the time? Isn’t that discriminatory? That means that channels that actually do that be closed?”

 

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