Photo kremlin.ru
The Turkish authorities will once again strike freedom of expression? This state of affairs could be influenced by the new law on activities on the Internet.
On Thursday, the Turkish parliament passed a law that allows the application of penalties for “spreading disinformation online”. According to Bloomberg.com for spreading “false information about the country’s security, public order and general welfare in order to create panic” he faces a prison term of one to three years. The fact that the law comes into force a few months before the presidential elections in Turkey adds a bit of flavor to the whole affair.
Will the new law hit journalists?
Ongoing changes in Turkish legislation are worrying journalists reporting on political events in the country. The question they raise is, for example, the definition of “crime on the Internet”. It is also unclear what the actions of Turkish prosecutors will look like in dealing with content that will bear the mark of fakery. The new law could also interfere with the issue of granting journalistic identifiers, and therefore – as we can see – the scope of its operation is really extended.
Systematic weakening of freedom of expression
These are not the first changes to freedom of expression in Turkish legislation in recent years. In 2020, a law was passed there, obliging the owners of social media – which can boast of having at least a million users a day – to designate local representatives of these media. At the same time, the Turkish authorities received additional tools to block access to websites on the Internet.
The vast majority of media in Turkey is under government control. According to the World Press Freedom Index, the country led by Recip Erdogan ranks 149th (out of 180 possible). Poland is in 66th place in the ranking
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