The institutions are in place, so why aren't things working as they should?

Turkey's public institutions exist to assume regulatory and supervisory roles, protect citizens' rights, and establish a fair order.

However, it is possible to see recently that the issues prioritized by some administrators do not align with the primary duties of these institutions. For example, the Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK), as its name suggests, is responsible for ensuring the protection of personal data in Turkey, preventing the unauthorized transfer of data abroad, and establishing a transparent audit mechanism in this regard.

Yet, it has not yet issued a statement or launched an investigation into the China-based DeepSeek, which has sparked global debate. So why is DeepSeek so important?

Canada-based Feroot Security determined that DeepSeek contains code that could enable direct data flow with China Mobile. South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) confirmed that DeepSeek was directing the data of South Korean users to ByteDance servers and has launched an investigation.

In Europe, independent cybersecurity experts revealed that data processing procedures were not sufficiently transparent when they examined DeepSeek's privacy policies. In other words, the issue is not just an allegation; security researchers have determined that this platform carries risks, and some countries have taken action.

However, this is not the priority for the KVKK in Turkey; instead, a booklet titled "Recommendations on the Protection of Personal Data in the Field of Artificial Intelligence" is being prepared. Yet, regulatory institutions are expected not only to provide recommendations but also to conduct preventive audits and take concrete steps to protect citizens' data security.

A similar situation applies to TÜBİTAK. TÜBİTAK, which has critical duties such as determining science and technology policies in Turkey, supporting research, and increasing the country's R&D capacity, has recently been busy developing a system that compares prices at chain markets.

However, there are already hundreds of websites in the private sector that do this job.

TÜBİTAK's duty is not to track prices, but to make Turkey a major player in advanced technology fields. But sometimes, incorrect prioritization can lead to such situations. The Advertising Board, meanwhile, has strayed from its primary duty by including news about Google Reviews on its "Things That Should Not Be Done" list.

The Board's duty is to protect consumers from misleading advertisements and to audit fake campaigns and marketing methods involving fraud. However, it is currently focused on an issue regarding Google's own platform policies.

Wouldn't it have been more appropriate for the Advertising Board to use this energy to focus on content that makes deceptive advertisements in the market and misleads users?

Let's come to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK)…

For years, a regulation in line with the "first come, first serve" principle has been expected regarding domain names. For the digital economy to develop, the domain name allocation process needs to be fast, fair, and transparent.

However, global standards have still not been met in this regard. As in every area where bureaucracy works slowly, there is a bottleneck here as well.

Finally, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK)…

While there are enough television channels in Turkey, RTÜK has recently started to take more interest in YouTube content. Yet, RTÜK's duty is to supervise radio and television broadcasts and to protect ethical and impartiality principles in the media sector.

Of course, there is a need for new regulations in the digital world, but instead of trying to intervene in a completely different ecosystem like YouTube with a television-based mindset, shouldn't a more modern framework be created for new media tools?

These examples do not mean that our institutions are mismanaged or dysfunctional.

However, individual decision-makers can sometimes get caught up in different agendas and push the work that actually needs to be done into the background.

If regulatory institutions focus on their primary duties, much firmer steps can be taken in areas such as data security, science policies, consumer rights, and the digital economy in Turkey. But for this, priorities must be set correctly, and mechanisms that produce solutions to real problems must be implemented.