Turkey's media watchdog slaps hefty fines on opposition news channels, TV series

Duvar English

At the weekly meeting of the Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) on Nov. 27, 13 separate sanctions were imposed on television channels Halk TV, Flash Haber, Tele 1, Sözcü TV, NOW TV, Star TV, Show TV, Kanal D, S Sport, Exxen and TV8.

TV series receive fines after Erdoğan’s remarks

President Reecep Tayyip Erdoğan recently stated that the "TV drama industry needs to control itself" and posted a lengthy comment on how religious people have been subjected to discrimination in media on X.

Following his remarks, the media watchdog penalized the series Back Streets (Arka Sokaklar in Turkish), Six of Us (Sahipsizler), Wild Heart (Yabani), and Genius (Deha).

An episode of the crime-drama series Back Streets addressing underage marriage and murder within an Islamic cult was deemed "contrary to national and moral values" by the RTÜK. As a result, Kanal D, the broadcaster, received a penalty of two program suspensions and a fine amounting to three percent of its advertising revenue.

During the meeting, RTÜK deemed scenes from the series as violating broadcasting principles by portraying "society's beliefs as being controlled by a single person or group" and showing "a religious group making threatening statements against law enforcement officers."

The council concluded that the scenes "led to the abuse of religious values in society" and imposed the maximum administrative fine on Kanal D.

Tuncay Keser, a member of RTÜK appointed by the main-opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), criticized the council's actions, "Those who touch upon religious cults face consequences. While the episode dealing with underage marriage and murder within a cult was penalized for being 'contrary to national and moral values,' the anti-secular rhetoric of Halis Bayancuk, known as Abu Hanzala and allegedly the ISIS leader in Turkey, on Akit TV was not addressed despite our complaints."

A similar child marriage scandal involving a cult had emerged in the past following a criminal complaint filed by a survivor.

STAR TV's Six of Us, NOW's Wild Heart, and SHOW's Genius were also penalized with the highest administrative fines for “scenes depicting violence, particularly against women.”

The shows were also found to be contrary to “national and moral values,” leading to program suspensions.

Fines imposed on opposition news channels 

RTÜK also fined various opposition news programs for “not adhering to the principles of impartiality and accuracy.”

Halk TV has been fined for violating “neutrality and accuracy principles” during its political commentary program, which discussed the resignation of three lawmakers from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The program used the captions such as "(MHP leader Devlet) Bahçeli was given memo by Erdoğan," which were deemed incompatible with journalistic standards. 

The network was accused of engaging in “political propaganda against the government, particularly regarding unfounded claims about the governing partner MHP's leadership.”

SZC TV also faced an administrative fine for its political commentary program, where nationalist opposition Good (İYİ) Party Deputy Chair Turhan Çömez raised allegations about Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu’s tenure as the Director of Istanbul’s Health Department and the healthcare insurance scam linked to newborn deaths. 

In another case, Flash TV received a fine for comments made by host Fatih Ertürk during a news program. Accordingly, “Ertürk implied that certain segments of society deserved bad outcomes by asking, ‘Why do we do the same things and expect different results?’” The network was fined for “promoting discrimination.”

Another television channel, Tele1, was fined on the grounds that comments about journalist Yavuz Donat, who has been known to be close to the government, “violated human dignity.”

Fines for illegal betting ads 

The media watchdog also imposed sanctions on TV8 for violating advertising duration rules. Subsequently, both TV8 and digital platform EXXEN, owned by the same media group, were fined the maximum amount for airing illegal betting ads and promoting inappropriate content during a national football match and the Lille-Fenerbahçe Champions League match.

The sports channel S SPORT+ was also penalized for airing similar illegal betting ads during the Leganes-Real Madrid football match.

RTÜK chair advocates 'national, moral' values

In a statement on X, RTÜK Chair Ebubekir Şahin said, "While we are not in favor of solving problems through penalties, it is our duty to enforce broadcasting principles."

Şahin stated that they would continue to take strict measures against TV shows that are contrary to "national and moral values."

He said, "As I have stated before, no broadcaster can belittle our beliefs, societal, and cultural values for the sake of ratings. We cannot turn a blind eye to the normalization of violence, especially against women, through broadcasts."

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