Media capture operation under the guise of 'family' and the mandatory ID requirement

In Turkey, digital and traditional media have long been transformed into an apparatus that ensures the maintenance of the government's ideological and economic system.

The legislative proposal submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) by the MHP on April 11, 2026, which claims to protect "family privacy," is the latest example of this transformation. However, reading this move merely as a reaction to the "degeneration" in daytime television programs is missing the forest for the trees. Those who have remained silent for years regarding the degenerate content of daytime programs and are now adopting a savior role through the concept of "privacy" are, in fact, projecting a strategy to depoliticize society.

The picture before us is the latest step in a media capture strategy that extends from digital to conventional media. We cannot think of this process, also defined as Authoritarian Neoliberalism, independently of the Disinformation Law that has held our last four years captive.

The balance sheet from October 2022 to the present (April 2026) proves how investigative journalism has turned into a field of judicial harassment. At least 83 journalists have been accused a total of 114 times under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). There have been 11 detentions and 10 arrests. As of April 2026, the detention processes of Alican Uludağ and İsmail Arı are ongoing. The fact that 41 out of 54 investigations resulted in non-prosecution indicates that the goal is to intimidate journalists by creating a deterrent effect.

RTÜK’s 146 Million “Stick” Policy

Even if we look only at the 2025 RTÜK data, we can see that the institution has turned into a tool of economic pressure. In 2025, RTÜK issued a total of 146.7 million TL in administrative fines to 32 separate institutions. 90% of the fines were imposed on NOW, Halk TV, TELE1, and Sözcü TV. While the total duration of broadcast suspensions and removals was 25 days, 10 pieces of content were removed from publishers such as Netflix, MUBİ, and Spotify.

The penalty of 2% to 5% of gross commercial communication revenue in the MHP's new proposal will make the stick in RTÜK's hand even heavier. This is "Regulatory Capture." In other words, while RTÜK does not touch media groups loyal to the ruling bloc, it leaves other channels breathless through selective punishment. So, can we be sure that the MHP's new proposal, which showcases tabloid-style daytime programs, will not actually target news bulletins directly?

“Privacy or a New Disinformation Law?”

The MHP's proposal carries the same genetic codes as the Disinformation Law, which entered our lives in 2022 and criminalized journalists with a vague concept like "misleading the public." The legislative proposal essentially says, "What you are saying might be true, but it is a crime to share it because it is private."

The provision in the proposal that "it cannot be published unless there is a clear public interest" is extremely risky due to its legal ambiguity. The process at work here is the illusion of the "Intimate Public Sphere," conceptualized by Lauren Berlant (1998). While the government presents the family as a "sacred and untouchable" fortress, it can actually bury social crimes that should be discussed in the public sphere into the darkness of the "private sphere." Thus, an event is not ignored, but it is confined to such a context (violation of privacy) that the chain of social accountability is broken. In this context, how and to what extent the public and the private should be separated is highly debatable. For example;

• Will a report on abuse in religious sect dormitories be considered "family privacy"?

• Will the outcry of a family following a worker's death be censored under the guise of "exposing personal data"?

• Will the "economic status" of names mentioned in corruption files be placed under confidentiality?

• Where will we place femicides?

Digital Handcuffs: Mandatory ID on X

While television screens are being besieged by the MHP's proposal, social media is also being targeted for takeover with the "mandatory ID login" requirement announced by Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek last week (April 3, 2026).

This regulation, presented under the name of the "Family Package," could turn every dissenting voice directly into a "suspect" by ending anonymity in the digital world. In this state, while televisions are struggling with RTÜK's monetary fines, digital media and citizens are forced into self-censorship and silence through a real-identity tracking system.

In conclusion, the MHP's proposal and the government's digital media moves are a media capture strategy. The ruling bloc, which controls 90% of media ownership through a "pool and loyalty economy," wants to destroy the remaining 10% of resistance space with privacy and identity barriers. If these proposals become law, it will no longer be news that is watched in Turkey, but only the acceptable dramas approved by the government. Truth, meanwhile, will be buried between 5% gross revenue fines and ID numbers.