Turkey’s parliament on Thursday passed a law proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that punishes journalists and social media users who spread what the bill considers false information or disinformation with up to three years in prison.
The rule applies to newspapers, radio and TV networks, as well as internet portals and social networks, which must provide information about users accused of spreading false news.
Deputies from Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AKP) party and its allies in the MHP, Nationalist Movement, which together hold a majority in the House, approved the bill. The move comes months before parliamentary elections in June 2023, which are expected to give Erdogan a new victory, according to the latest polls.
Critics fear that as the election looms, the law will be used to further crack down on social media and independent journalists. “Those who say ‘There is poverty’ will go to jail. Those who say ‘There is corruption’ will go to jail,” said Engin Altay of the CHP, the main opposition Republican People’s Party.
The legislation, dubbed the “disinformation law” or “online censorship law”, has been heavily criticized by Turkish and international media groups since it was sent to parliament in May. The crime of “publicly distributing misleading information” will be added to the Penal Code, and the government will gain powers to apply sanctions against the press, including fines, banning advertising and limiting internet bandwidth.
The most controversial point calls for up to three years in prison for anyone who divulges “untrue” information about Turkey’s domestic and international security, public order and health, with the alleged purpose of causing “public concern, fear and panic”.
The CHP and its Iyi (Partido do Bem) allies fought the bill in Parliament’s Justice Committee. “We tried to do away with the law, but the ruling party brought it to the Parliament’s agenda as soon as the new legislative term began,” said CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. “This is another method of silencing the media as Turkey enters its electoral cycle.”
Ankara had already increased control over the internet in 2020, forcing social networks to have legal representatives in the country and forcing platforms to remove problematic content within 48 hours.
In a report last year on online freedom, Freedom House said the situation in the country continued to decline for the third year in a row, noting that hundreds of websites were blocked, including Tele1’s YouTube account, which frequently posts government-critical content. .
In the annual press freedom report released by the NGO Reporters Without Borders, Turkey ranks 149 out of 180. No journalists have been murdered this year in the country, the document says, but nine are in prison.
In January, one of them was arrested on charges of insulting Erdogan — a law dealing with insults to the president carries a prison sentence of one to four years, and thousands of people have been charged and sentenced in the seven years since the leader passed. from prime minister to president.
Erdogan took over as Turkey’s prime minister in 2003 by the Islamist and conservative AKP. He stayed in office until 2014, when his party barred him from running for a fourth term. So, he elected himself president and increased the powers of the office. Then he defeated a coup against himself in 2016 and started a wave of repression and purges – arresting opponents and public officials and shutting down news outlets.
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