Algeria shuts down private TV channel after it broadcast sexually explicit content

Algeria shut down a private TV station after it broadcast sexually explicit scenes between a near-naked man and woman.

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

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

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

The channel apologized 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.