Türkiye - October 2022

The country’s parliament has passed a new ‘disinformation’ law, which has been criticized to crack down on dissent, particularly as the country prepares for elections in 2023. Proposed by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the new legislation prohibits spreading 'false information about the internal and external security, public order and general wellbeing of the country in order to create anxiety, fear or panic among the public'. The law could see journalists and social media users being jailed for up to three years or receiving up to 50 per cent higher sentences in cases where accounts are anonymous. Additionally, Professor Şebnem Fincancı, President of the Union of Turkish Medical Associations and a human rights expert, has been arbitrarily placed in pre-trial detention on “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” following her calls for an investigation into claims that Turkish army used chemical weapons against Kurdish militants. Both developments were widely condemned by human rights groups.

Sources: Article 19, The Guardian, Amnesty International (1), Amnesty International (2), BBC