A year has passed since the "Combating Disinformation Law", which journalism professional organizations described as a "censorship law" and caused many debates, came into force. During this last year, many journalists and citizens were investigated and prosecuted under the law that provides a prison sentence of up to 3 years for "publicly disseminating untrue information in a way that is likely to disrupt public peace".

 

TURKIYE IS IN THE LOWEST SCORE AMONG 75 COUNTRIES

 

According to the "2023 Freedom on the Internet" report published by the US-based Freedom House under the title "Oppressive Power of Artificial Intelligence", Turkey received the lowest score among 75 countries and ranked last. The report also touched upon the censorship law, emphasizing that the law was used to silence opposition politicians and journalists, and stated that censorship was widespread and many articles and social media posts were blocked.

 

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS IN THE LOWEST SCORE

 

DFG Secretary Gülşen Koçuk 

 

In the 2023 World Press Freedom Index prepared by the International Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organization, Turkey ranked 165th out of 180 countries, falling 16 places compared to last year. According to RSF, Türkiye moved from the "problematic" category to the lowest score.

 

According to the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) 2022 Report on Rights Violations Against Journalists, 39 journalists were arrested and 76 journalists were punished in this process.

 

'CENSORSHIP HAS BEEN ALREADY IMPLEMENTED DE FACTO'

 

Speaking about the first year of the censorship law, DFG Secretary Gülşen Koçuk said: "The censorship law has been talked about for a year, but that this is a very old practice because the government has already implemented this censorship in order to cover up and hide its own crimes, uniformed violence, and state-related rights violations. We saw this especially after the 2014-15 period. After this process, it became more systematic and eventually the government made a legal regulation to give it a legal basis. The law passed in October, which we describe as the censorship law, but which they define as the 'disinformation law'. "Although it is stated that the aim of this law is to prevent the spread of false information, the government brings this to the agenda in order to hide and cover up the public's truth against its own truth."

 

'THE STATE PASSED THE LAW TO HIDE ITS CRIMES'

 

Underlining that the AKP passed the censorship law to cover its crimes, Koçuk said: "The state aimed to prevent the throwing of two citizens from a helicopter in Van, to prevent Gülistan Doku and İpek Er from coming to the fore, to prevent the real criminals of the earthquake from being revealed and to be prosecuted, to ensure that the perpetrators of so many crimes are left unpunished, A censorship law was passed to prevent it from coming to the agenda. We know that all organized crimes actually derive their source from the government somewhere. The censorship law, no matter how de facto it existed before, actually became a cover for what was happening. Journalists were faced with interventions before the law. These interventions increased with the law and caused Turkey to decline further in the press freedom index. This law is an intervention not only to the press but also to society."

 

MA / Eylem Akdağ