Keshet 12 Files Petition Against Communications Law: 'Legislation to Weaken Criticism of Government'

Against the backdrop of the smashing of the entrance door to the News 12 studios last night, Keshet 12 filed a petition today (Tuesday) to the Supreme Court against the Communications Law promoted by Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi. The petition claims that this is personal and discriminatory legislation aimed at economically weakening media outlets that criticize the government, and providing economic assistance to those that support it.

The petition further claims that Minister of Communications Karhi was tasked with promoting channels that are "good" for the government and harming channels that are "bad" for it. The petition points to a tweet by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the X network, in which he called Channel 12 "Panic 12"; and to quotes from Minister Karhi, who declared that the law is intended to "dismantle" what he calls the "left-wing monopoly on consciousness," including a public video in which he likens media bodies, including Channel 12, to mosquitoes that bother him.

This is the 11th petition filed against the Communications Law that Karhi led on behalf of the Prime Minister. News 12 and the Kan 11 broadcasting corporation also petitioned the Supreme Court. Judge Ofer Grosskopf froze the entry into force of the law shortly after it passed in the Knesset.

Keshet claims that the petition is not filed in a vacuum. For the second time in about three weeks, the entrance door to the News 12 building in Tel Aviv was smashed last night. "The violent attacks on the News 12 system in Tel Aviv are a tangible expression of the dangerous atmosphere that is reflected in the Broadcasting Law. The Government of Israel and the Minister of Communications must cease the inciting and unrestrained attacks on the free press, which also lead to serious acts," it was stated.

Discrimination against Channel 14

In the petition, Keshet claims that the new law forces it alone to transfer the linear broadcast of Channel 12 to commercial platforms without consideration, and to expropriate an additional 90 minutes of Catch-Up from the channel.

According to Keshet, this is an unprecedented arrangement in Israel and the world, which expropriates its central asset — the content, produced with an investment of hundreds of millions of shekels, and transfers it without consideration to bodies that compete with it in news broadcasts and advertising budgets, primarily HOT and yes, which were previously prevented by law from operating in these areas in cable and satellite.

"The practical meaning is that the petitioner is obligated to transfer its central — and in fact only — property, the content it produces and acquires, without consideration, to those who are becoming its direct competitors," the petition states.

It is further claimed that "completely personally, the Minister of Communications excluded Channel 14 from the transition arrangement. The discrimination against the petitioner, while violating the principle of equality, is reflected in the fact that the Minister of Communications excluded — completely arbitrarily and in a last-minute maneuver — Channel 14, which the government carries on its hands, from the transition provisions."

The law also sets a uniform investment requirement in high-quality genres, but grants Channel 14 and i24NEWS, as well as HOT and yes and other multi-channel platforms, an economic advantage in five years of preparation, while Keshet and Reshet are obligated from the beginning of the legislation at a much higher rate, so that Keshet is financing the concessions given to its competitors.

Damage to "Eretz Nehederet"

Another piece of evidence for the attempt to silence criticism by economic means within the framework of the law, it is claimed, is reflected through the provision of a negative incentive to produce satire programs — and thereby harm the program "Eretz Nehederet," which regularly criticizes the government. "The minister decided to harm the profitability of producing these programs," the petition states. "It seems that 'Eretz Nehederet' is the program most hated by the government, being a critical, stinging, and biting satirical program."

According to the petition, instead of removing regulation from the broadcasting market, the law sets a heavy regulatory burden on Keshet 12, including supervision, ethical rules, and license fees — while granting benefits to media outlets close to the government and exempting them from regulation.

Keshet also attacks the cancellation of the structural separation between the broadcasting bodies and the news company, which it claims is intended to achieve a political goal — "creating the possibility for direct pressure and threats on the owners of media channels that do not align with the government."

Keshet 12 is represented in the petition by the law firms Crispin Rubinstein Blacher Kadosh & Co., Goldfarb Gross Seligman & Co., and Keshet's legal counsel, Adv. Dan Fogelman.