Turkey remains a leading jailer of journalists in the world and has purged, imprisoned, or forced into exile tens of thousands of people, the vast majority of whom are not the terrorists, terrorist supporters, or coup plotters the government claims they are.
Currently, at least 18 journalists are behind bars in Turkey’s prisons, according to the CPJ. The country now ranks sixth globally, having released 20 journalists in the past year.
"However, it would be naive to see lower prisoner numbers as a sign of a change of heart toward the press,” the CPJ said. “Turkey’s crackdown after a failed coup attempt in 2016 effectively eradicated the country’s mainstream media and prompted many journalists to leave the profession.”
Turkey passed a law last year requiring social media platforms that have more than 1 million users to maintain a legal representative and store data in the country. Major social media companies, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, have since established offices in Turkey.
The new legislation would make the dissemination of “disinformation” and “fake news” criminal offenses punishable by up to five years in prison, according to pro-government media reports. It also would establish a social media regulator.
Most of Turkey’s major media companies are under the control of the government, leaving social media as an important outlet for dissenting voices.
Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net report, published in September, characterized Turkey as “not free,” noting the removal of content critical of the government and the prosecution of people posting “undesirable” commentary on social media.
Turkey, which has dropped precipitously since it was ranked 100th among 139 countries when Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its first worldwide index in 2002, the year the AKP came to power, was ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
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