The futile excitement of the effort to silence the media with the law

The new draft bill that stipulates changes in the Press Law, Criminal Code and Internet law, which the journalists called the “censorship law” and the ruling party “the law of disinformation”, was accepted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) votes on the night of 13 October, after highly controversial debates in the parliament. Deputies who voted for the law took photos with the excitement of hunters who killed a lion in the savannah putting their feet on its head. The futile excitement of the effort to silence the media is evident. It is a shame one feels looking at that photo.

The declared purpose of the law is to prevent the spread of false and misleading news, and to protect children from harmful publications and advertisements. However it is not just that, the effort to intimidate the media, especially social media and reporters, by leaving them at the mercy of the prosecutors and judges of the politicized judiciary is obvious. For a detailed analysis of the law, I suggest you read Nermin Pınar Erdoğan’s article. The aim is to deter the media from publishing news and comments that will not benefit the government, at least until the critical 2023 election.

An example to the world in silencing the media

One of the architects of the law, Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Digital Media Commission, AKP Hatay Deputy Hüseyin Yayman said that this law was prepared “by looking at the examples in the world” aiming “to set an example for the world”. At least the first part is true, but not the whole truth: We have to admit that AKP governments specialize in cherry picking the worst examples in an eclectic way, especially by a detailed analysis of the laws in the USA and the EU.

AKP Kahramanmaraş Deputy Ahmet Özdemir said that they discussed the law and especially the 29th article, which is the most controversial part of the law by bringing prison sentences to journalists and social media users, with the officials of the US Embassy -at their request- and they convinced them from the parliamentary rostrum.

There is a possibility that the part of being an example to the world is also true. First the Covid-19 epidemic, then the Russia-Ukraine war and the economic and political uncertainty caused by these, the regimes are to become more and more oppressive as before the Second World War. Finally, the victory of the Fascist-leaning Giorgia Meloni in the elections in Italy, the rise of the far-right Alternative Party in Germany, and the increasing xenophobia in EU member states such as Austria, Hungary and Poland are fueled by Russia’s expansionist policy.

Election process and undesired information flow

Unfortunately, it does not surprise anyone that attempts to silence the media are a method that authoritarian governments want to resort to.

The law authorizes the courts to consider reports on corruption in a public institution, a murder or saying inflation rates do not reflect the truth as “infuriating society”. No specific definition has been made for this.

CHP announced that it will take the law to the Constitutional Court. Even if the top court rules that there is a violation of constitutional rights, it is doubtful that it will be abolished until the elections eight months later.

So is it possible to silence the media? It is not possible to silence it completely. There will always be reporters defending their own right to report in order to defend the public’s right to be informed.

But unfortunately, it is possible to prevent and suppress the media for a while.

The purpose of this law is to prevent the spread of certain news, at least until the elections. Therefore, this law brings to mind that the MHP-supported AKPgovernment wants to make other moves that are not visible at the moment, but that they do not want it to be heard and read, in order to win the election.

That’s what’s really worrying.