Turkish broadcaster fined over airing Simpsons episode that openly "mocked God"
Turkey’s television watchdog has fined the channel which broadcasts The Simpsons for airing an episode which it said insulted religious values by “mocking God”.
CNBC-e, which has broadcast The Simpsons in Turkey for almost a decade, was fined 53,000 lira (£18,427) by the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) for airing the episode which shows God taking orders from the Devil.
RTÜK said the fine had been levied due to CNBC-e “making fun of God, encouraging the young people to exercise violence by showing murders as God's orders, and encouraging them to start drinking alcohol on New Year's Eve night.”
Adding: “One of the characters is abusing another one's religious belief to make him commit murders. The Bible is publicly burned in one scene and God and the Devil are shown in human bodies”.
In another scene, God serves coffee to the Devil, which can also be viewed as an insult to religious beliefs, according to the report, which explained the reasoning behind the fine.
The Simpsons is the longest-running US sitcom, having first aired in 1989, and is currently broadcast in more than 100 countries.