Turkey's assault on human rights and the rule of law presided over by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thousands of people face arrest and prosecution for their social media posts, typically charged with defamation, insulting the president, or spreading terrorist propaganda.
In the context of Covid-19, the Interior Ministry announced that hundreds of people were under criminal investigation or detained by police for social media postings deemed to "create fear and panic" about the pandemic. Some of these postings included criticism of the government's response to the pandemic.
The president's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and an allied far-right party enjoy a parliamentary majority enabling them to consolidate authoritarian rule by passing rushed legislation that contravenes international human rights obligations.
Plans for strict regulation of social media companies in Turkey were made law in July after President Erdogan used the example of insults against his family on social media to justify a need for stricter regulation.
Opposition parties remain sidelined under Turkey's presidential system and the government has reshaped public and state institutions to remove checks on power and to ensure benefits for its own supporters.
Executive interference in the judiciary and in prosecutorial decisions are entrenched problems, reflected in the authorities' systematic practice of detaining, prosecuting, and convicting on bogus and overbroad terrorism and other charges.
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