Israel’s media reform isn’t deregulation - opinion
Elad Man argues that Israel's new broadcasting law, passed in July 2026, is not genuine deregulation but a state-redesigned market that redistributes advantages, weakens editorial safeguards, and leaves a politically exposed regulator in charge. The law removes structural separation between TV channels and news companies, relaxes cross-ownership restrictions, and grants advantages to new providers while weakening journalistic standards and transparency requirements. Man warns that governments can influence the press by manipulating competition rules rather than through direct censorship.
Elad Man argues that Israel's new broadcasting law, approved in July 2026, is not a genuine deregulation but a state-redesigned market. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called it a victory for "content, competition, and freedom" and the completion of a "right-wing reform" of the media. Man contends these descriptions sit uneasily together. The law removes the decades-old structural separation between commercial television channels and their news-producing companies, a safeguard designed to give newsrooms institutional distance from owners' commercial and political interests. It also relaxes cross-ownership restrictions, allowing companies with broader commercial interests more direct control over news production. While the law may produce more channels, Man argues that a larger number of outlets does not necessarily mean a wider range of independent voices. The law grants significant advantages to new news providers, such as requiring television platforms to carry certain channels without payment, while requirements involving journalistic standards, ownership transparency, and editorial independence were weakened or removed. The regulator's appointment process leaves substantial influence with the communications minister and the government, creating a system where news organizations may fear that decisions reflect the preferences of those in power. Man, an Israeli lawyer and public-interest advocate who serves as legal counsel to Hatzlacha and The Seventh Eye, warns that governments can influence the press by manipulating the rules under which news organizations compete, rather than through direct censorship.