Turkey: questionable anti-disinformation campaign

In 2023, there were high hopes among Turkish media that a victory for the opposition in the presidential and parliamentary elections would bring more freedom. But it was not to be, and the pressure on independent journalism is unlikely to ease for the foreseeable future, as a new "disinformation law" underscores.

A newspaper kiosk in Istanbul on the day after the Turkish presidential election in May 2023. (© picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS / Emrah Gurel)

Turkey has long been stuck in the bottom third of the Press Freedom Index rankings published by NGO Reporters Without Borders, but the situation for journalists has deteriorated even further: in 2023 the country dropped 16 places compared to the previous year to 165th out of 180 countries. Among other factors, the government's media policy in the aftermath of theearthquakes in February 2023 (once again) made it clear that the state wants to control coverage as much as possible: restrictions and fines were imposed on outlets that criticised the authorities' prevention and disaster management measures and a number of reporters were detained or threatened. Local media outlets which are less subject to the control of large holding companies are Ankara's main target.

Hopes that the parliamentary and presidential elections in May 2023 would bring a change of government and improve the situation were dashed. The Islamic right-wing nationalist AKP-MHP coalition government led by President Recep Tayipp Erdoğan managed to win again and since then it has for the most part stuck to its authoritarian course in domestic politics. It remains to be seen whether the AKP's surprising defeat in the local elections in March 2024 will have any impact on this course.

According to a report by the Journalists' Union of Turkey, 26 journalists were detained in Turkey in May 2023. The report also stated that in 2022 more than 270 media workers were put on trial, 57 were physically attacked, 54 news websites and 1,355 articles were blocked, and independent news outlets were sentenced to pay fines and penalties totalling more than 10 million Turkish lira (around 500,000 euros at that time) for their reporting.

The Disinformation Actwhich was passed in October 2022 marked another turning point. The law makes it easier for journalists and social media users to be charged with spreading "false information" and sentenced to up to three years in prison. This "false information" includes "unfounded" and "distorted" information, but since these terms are not defined in detail, what is considered a violation of "public peace" or the "public order" largely depends on the interpretation of the courts – in a judicial system that generally follows the government's line. For the government in Ankara, this strategy of deterrence seems to be working. Since the law was passed, the number of critical posts shared on social media has dropped considerably and criticism of the government has visibly decreased.

The new law also obliges social media platforms to pass on personal user data to the Turkish authorities. If they refuse, their bandwidth can be throttled by 90 percent, which in effect means that the service will be blocked.

Hardly any independent publications
Around 70 percent of Turkish media are in the hands of a few large groups. In addition to traditional media holding companies, since 2010 conservative Islamic entrepreneurs with close ties to the government have also acquired several major media outlets. As a result, the high-circulation daily Sabah and TV channel ATV are now government mouthpieces. Almost all these media groups are in turn owned by conglomerates that are also active in non-media sectors such as construction, finance or the energy sector. This means that information that runs counter to these companies' commercial interests is often suppressed, and they also hinder government-critical reporting in order to win lucrative government contracts. The Doğan Media Group, which used to be very critical of the government and was once the country's largest media company and owner of the daily newspaper Hürriyet and the TV channel CNN Türk, was sold in 2018 after years of mounting pressure to the pro-government Demirören Holding, which already owns major newspapers such as Milliyet and Habertürk. As a result, 90 percent of the country's media outlets are now under the direct or indirect influence of the government.

However, even with the opposition media, the label "independent" cannot necessarily be taken at face value. Many have sided with other parties – in most cases the largest opposition party, CHP. These media outlets, for example the television channel Halk TV or the newspapers Sözcü and Cumhuriyet, provide biased, pro-CHP reporting, with some of their journalists assuming the role of party activists.

Nowadays it is mainly websites like Artı Gerçek, T24 and Gazete Duvar that cover the topics the established media keep quiet about. But even the Islamic-conservative outlets don't always remain loyal to Erdoğan on every issue, as can be seen for example with Karar or Yeni Mesaj.

The new disinformation law and financial difficulties are preventing independent online media from reaching more people and thus becoming more successful.

Social media play a key role in Turkey: 90 percent of the country's Internet users are active on these platforms, and the Turks are among the most avid users worldwide, particularly on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders):
Rank 165 (2023)

Last updated: November 2023

Media from Turkey at euro|topics

Agos (Weekly newspaper)

Hürriyet (Daily newspaper)

Hürriyet Daily News (Website)

Habertürk (Website)

Birgün (Daily newspaper)

Today's Zaman (Daily newspaper)

Bianet (Website)

Özgür Gündem (Daily newspaper)

Milliyet (Daily newspaper)

Radikal (Website)

Sabah (Daily newspaper)

Sözcü (Daily newspaper)

Star (Daily newspaper)

T24 (Website)

Taraf (Daily newspaper)

Yeni Şafak (Daily newspaper)

Zaman (Daily newspaper)

Cumhuriyet (Daily newspaper)

Daily Sabah (Daily newspaper)

Diken (Website)

Evrensel (Daily newspaper)

Karar (Daily newspaper)

Akşam (Daily newspaper)

Oda TV (Website)

Artı Gerçek (Website)

Yeni Akit (Daily newspaper)

Gazete Duvar (Website)

Yetkin Report (Blog)

Duvar English (Website)

Independent Türkçe (Website)

Takvim (TR) (Daily newspaper)

Milat (Daily newspaper)

Yeniçağ (Daily newspaper)

Yeni Mesaj (Website)

Doğru Haber (Daily newspaper)

Şalom (Weekly newspaper)

Yeni Asya (Daily newspaper)

Posta (Website)

Aydınlık (Daily newspaper)

poltikyol (Website)

medyascope (Website)