The palace wants penguin media
The regime, which is tightening its grip on the country, is now aiming to redesign the media through RTÜK. Halk TV has been handed a 10-day broadcast suspension, while Sözcü TV and TELE 1 have received fines. If the channels are penalised again under the same clause, their licences may be revoked.
Politics Service
The Palace regime, which continues to lose public support day by day, is expanding its repression policies, and the blockade on journalists and the media also continues. Most recently, Halk TV Chair of the Board Cafer Mahiroğlu announced the other night that the channel's licence renewal application had been rejected. Yesterday, RTÜK imposed a 10-day broadcast suspension on the channel. In a statement on social media, Mahiroğlu said they had applied for an extension on 13 March and submitted all documents completely, yet the application was not approved.
The penalties issued yesterday were announced by RTÜK’s CHP member İlhan Taşcı. According to Taşcı’s post, Halk TV received a 10-day broadcast suspension by majority vote on the grounds that statements made by nuclear engineer Tolga Yarman on the programme Sansürsüz with Sinem Fıstıkoğlu such as “Turkey is not becoming more religious, it's becoming more sectarian” and “If we look from the naming of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge onwards, we were incited against Iran” incited hatred and enmity among the public.
In the same programme, CHP İstanbul MP Yunus Emre’s criticism of Mehmet Uçum led to a 3% administrative fine on the grounds that “respect for human dignity and the privacy of private life was not observed” and that “statements humiliating beyond the limits of criticism of individuals or organisations” had been used.
Meanwhile, TELE 1 and Sözcü TV were also hit with RTÜK fines. Sözcü TV received a 3% administrative fine for violating the same clause, due to the comment “Acting as a subcontractor for imperialism” made by guest Türker Ertürk on the programme Öncesi Sonrası Gece hosted by Senem Toluay Ilgaz.
THEY SHIELDED REACTIONARY AKİT
RTÜK fined TELE 1 3% for criticising Akit newspaper’s coverage of the death of Manisa Metropolitan Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek, who died after being electrocuted at home. Akit had headlined the story “Ferdi Zeyrek Electrocuted”, and TELE 1’s criticism was deemed “humiliating beyond the limits of criticism of individuals or organisations”.
Accordingly, if TELE 1, Halk TV, and Sözcü TV receive another penalty within a year under the clauses that prohibit “inciting the public to hatred and enmity based on race, language, religion, gender, class, region, or sect” or “inciting hatred and enmity among the public”, their licences may be revoked.
RTÜK also fined Netflix 5% for violating the clauses “Content cannot promote or normalise violence” and “It must not contravene national and moral values, public morality, and the principle of family protection” due to violent scenes in the film Barda. Spotify received a 5% administrative fine and a catalogue removal order for certain songs containing slang and profane expressions that allegedly violated “national and moral values, public morality, and the principle of family protection”.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Saray penguen media istiyor published in BirGün newspaper on June 27, 2025.
Translator's note: The term "penguin media" refers to the pro-government media outlets that broadcast the penguin documentary while ignoring the Gezi protests in 2013.
