Online media platforms Voice of America and Deutsche Welle chose not to apply for licenses from the council on the grounds that it would result in them being subject to similar disproportionate sanctions and censorship on June 30, an Ankara court blocked access to both media outlets from Turkey at the request of the council. The council has regularly imposed arbitrary fines and temporary suspensions of broadcasting on the few television channels critical of the government. The government enforced an August 2019 regulation requiring media companies streaming online news coverage and digital streaming platforms to obtain licenses from the government-aligned broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). At time of writing, they remained in detention. In October, nine more Kurdish journalists were arrested and placed in pretrial detention in various cities. At time of writing, at least 65 journalists and media workers were in pretrial detention or serving prison sentences for terrorism offenses because of their journalistic work or association with media.Īfter their June arrest in Diyarbakir, 16 Kurdish journalists working for various Kurdish media platforms were placed in pretrial detention on suspicion of “membership of a terrorist organization,” a widely abused charge.
Independent media in Turkey operate mainly via online platforms, with authorities regularly ordering removal of critical content and prosecuting journalists, most severely under Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law.
Print media and private television channels are mostly owned by companies with close government links, which is reflected in the content of their news coverage. Freedom of Expression, Association, and Assembly In October, a government-sponsored law came into force that criminalizes the dissemination of “false information,” tightens control over social media companies and online news websites, and gives authorities further powers to censor independent journalism and restrict the right to information. The deepening economic crisis saw the official annual inflation rate rise to 85 percent in October. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarian government regularly targeted perceived government critics and political opponents and exerted strong control over the media and judiciary in the long run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections that will take place in the first half of 2023.
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