SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email

Vice Media Inc., the youth-focused media company known for ambitious global reporting, is blacking out its websites and social-media channels for two hours Wednesday to protest the imprisonment of Mohammed Rasool, a translator detained by Turkish authorities while he was reporting for the company.

Visitors to Vice home pages -- there are almost 100 globally -- will encounter a blacked-out screen with a video message relaying Rasool’s story and a link to a Change.org online petition created with the Committee to Protect Journalists, the company said in a statement. The sites will be down from 10 a.m. New York time until noon.

Vice’s conflict with Turkey reflects a deteriorating situation for journalists in that country, as well as the perils for a growing news organization with bureaus across the globe. Turkey was ranked 149th of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index in 2015, behind Mexico and ahead of Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Vice News reporter Mohammed Rasool has been imprisoned in Turkey for almost two months on completely baseless charges,” Chief Executive Officer Shane Smith said in the video. “Please help us focus attention on Rasool’s case, by sharing the hashtag on social media of #FreeRasool, and keeping pressure on the Turkish authorities to free him immediately.”

Authorities detained Rasool and two British journalists on Aug. 27 and accused them of assisting a terrorist organization, according to Vice. He is a freelance journalist, translator and facilitator for new organizations in the region, the company said.

The company has dismissed the charges as “alarmingly false.” The authorities released Phil Pendlebury and Jake Hanrahan after 11 days, but held on to Rasool.

The U.S. State Department has urged Turkey to uphold due process for Rasool, an Iraqi Kurd, who was aiding the two journalists. He has also worked for the Associated Press in the region.