Posted on 03/18/2005 6:04:04 AM PST by knighthawk
BRUSSELS - Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel, branded a terrorist organization by the United States, will no longer be available on European satellites from Monday, media regulators said yesterday.
The announcement came at a meeting of European Union broadcasting regulators in Brussels, where national watchdogs from the 25-nation bloc agreed to step up action against TV broadcasts that incite hatred or promote racism and xenophobia.
Last year, a French court banned al-Manar from a satellite owned by France's Eutelsat because its broadcasts were deemed anti-Semitic and a potential threat to public order.
Dutch regulators discovered that a satellite owned by New Skies Satellites was carrying al-Manar and has ordered the company to stop doing so, because the channel did not have the required Dutch license.
"We saw that al-Manar was being transmitted by New Sky Satellite (NSS). We assessed that al-Manar does not have a Dutch license ... and NSS will now take al-Manar from its satellite," said Jan van Cuilenburg, head of the Dutch Media Authority.
However, it will remain on Middle Eastern satellites outside the jurisdiction of European regulators, van Cuilenburg said.
Al-Manar, which is run by Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas, is one of several Arabic-language stations popular among Europe's millions of Muslims.
Ping
It's a start........
But, but, what about their first amendment rights? I am sure the ACLU will jump on this one.
I'll give the Euros a week before the muslims force them to re-open.
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