Algeria shuts TV station after sex scene scandal

Algerian authorities have ordered the closure of a private TV station after it broadcast scenes deemed "offensive," the official APS agency said.

The Audio-visual Regulation Authority (ARAV) "has decided to definitively close the El Adjwaa channel", APS reported late Monday.

The decision came after the channel broadcast an American film including sexually explicit scenes between a near-naked man and woman on Sunday night.

Outraged internet users shared images of the scenes widely on social media.

📢#Algeria 🇩🇿 Algerian authorities have decided to permanently close the channel #ElAdjwaaTV due to the broadcast of a scene deemed "offensive".
RSF denounces a disproportionate sanction and calls on the regulatory authority to reconsider its decision. pic.twitter.com/9TBy1akgTQ

— RSF (@RSF_inter) November 16, 2022

ARAV said the scenes were "offensive and contrary to the values of our society and our religion".

The channel apologised on Facebook for what it called "a terrible mistake" and bid "farewell" to its viewers.

ARAV last year temporarily shut down the private El Hayet TV after a controversy over Algerian resistance hero Emir Abdelkader.

The Algerian state had a monopoly on broadcasting for five decades following independence from France in 1962.

Since the law was changed in 2012, more than 50 private television channels have been created, but only six of them have received temporary approval to open studios in Algeria.