Turkish media watchdog imposes heavy fines on opposition news channels and TV series

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

TV series fined after Erdoğan's remarks

President Reecep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said that “the TV series industry must control itself” and published a lengthy commentary on how religious people have been subjected to discrimination in media on X.

Following his comments, the media watchdog sanctioned the series Back Streets (Alleys in Turkish), Six of us (homeless), Wild Heart (Savage), and Genius (Genius).

An episode of the crime drama series Back Streets dealing with underage marriage and murder within an Islamic sect was deemed “contrary to national and moral values” by RTÜK. As a result, the Kanal D channel was sentenced to two program suspensions and a fine equivalent to three percent of its advertising revenue.

During the meeting, RTÜK believed that scenes from the series violated broadcasting principles by depicting “society's beliefs as being controlled by a single person or group” and showing “a religious group making statements threatening against the police.

The board concluded that the scenes “led to an abuse of religious values ​​in society” and imposed the maximum administrative fine on Kanal D.

Tuncay Keser, an RTÜK member appointed by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), criticized the council's actions: “Those who touch religious sects suffer the consequences. While the episode involving underage marriage and sect killing was penalized for being “contrary to national and moral values,” the anti-secular rhetoric of Halis Bayancuk, known as Abou Hanzala and allegedly the leader of ISIS in Turkey, Akit TV has not been contacted despite our complaints.”

A similar child marriage scandal involving a cult had erupted 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 hit with the highest administrative fines for “scenes depicting violence, particularly against women.”

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

Fines imposed on opposition news channels

RTÜK also fined several opposition news programs for “failing to comply with the principles of impartiality and accuracy.”

Halk TV was fined for violating the “principles of neutrality and accuracy” during its political commentary broadcast, which covered the resignation of three Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmakers. The program used subtitles such as “(MHP leader Devlet) Bahçeli received memo from Erdoğan”, which were deemed inconsistent with journalistic standards.

The network was accused of engaging in “political propaganda against the government, particularly regarding unfounded allegations about the leadership of the ruling partner, the MHP.”

SZC TV was also fined administratively for its political commentary program, in which nationalist opposition Good Party (İYİ) Vice Chairman Turhan Çömez raised allegations about Health Minister Kemal's tenure Memişoğlu as director of the Istanbul Health Department and on the health insurance scam linked to newborn deaths.

In another case, Flash TV was fined for comments made by host Fatih Ertürk during a television news program. As a result, “Ertürk implied that certain segments of society deserved poor results 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 its comments about journalist Yavuz Donat, known to be close to the government, “undermined human dignity”.

Fines for illegal betting advertisements

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

Sports channel S SPORT+ was also sanctioned for broadcasting similar advertisements for illegal betting during the Leganes-Real Madrid football match.

RTÜK president advocates “national and moral” values

In a statement on

Şahin said they would continue to take strict measures against television broadcasts contrary to “national and moral values.”

He said: “As I have said before, no broadcaster can downplay our beliefs, societal and cultural values ​​for the sake of audiences. We cannot turn a blind eye to the normalization of violence, especially against women, through broadcasts. »