{"id":74604,"date":"2026-05-04T18:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/74604\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T18:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:19:09","slug":"over-300-journalists-prosecuted-in-turkey-as-union-warns-disinformation-law-silences-the-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/74604\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 300 journalists prosecuted in Turkey as union warns \u2018disinformation law\u2019 silences the press"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s so-called \u201cdisinformation law,\u201d which criminalizes the public spread of false information, has become a tool for silencing the press, with more than 300 journalists facing prosecution over the past year, the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS) said in its annual press freedom report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report, which covers violations of the rights of journalists and media outlets between April 2025 and April 2026, said the abuses were not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern described as \u201can institutionalized regime of repression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe principle of the rule of law has been replaced by the arbitrariness of those in power,\u201d TGS said, adding that journalistic activities continue to be \u201csystematically subjected to criminal and administrative sanctions,\u201d<\/p>\n

Of 224 criminal cases involving journalists, including those carried over from previous years, 73 were concluded with prison sentences totaling more than 53 years, the report said.<\/p>\n

Fifteen journalists and four media organizations faced civil lawsuits over the period. Courts awarded damages totaling 102,500 Turkish lira (about $2,300).<\/p>\n

Sixty-seven journalists were detained and 19 were jailed pending trial, while two were put under house arrest and 26 were released under judicial supervision.<\/p>\n

Twenty journalists were detained on accusations of \u201cpublicly disseminating misleading information\u201d under Article 217\/A of the Turkish Penal Code; two were arrested, one was put under house arrest and 14 were released under judicial supervision.<\/p>\n

The provision, which came into force in 2022, has increasingly been used not only against journalists but also against labor union members, environmental activists, opposition youth groups, retirees protesting poverty and lawyers critical of government policies, the union said.<\/p>\n

The report quoted Erin\u00e7 Sa\u011fkan, head of the Ankara Bar Association, as saying the law\u2019s vague wording violated European human rights standards and threatened both press freedom and the public\u2019s right to access information.<\/p>\n

At least 34 journalists were physically assaulted while 22 were subjected to threats and verbal abuse. Two media outlets were also targeted.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s broadcast regulator, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RT\u00dcK), issued administrative fines totaling 15.2 million lira (about $336,000) in 21 rulings, the union said, adding that opposition-aligned broadcasters including Tele1, Halk TV and SZC TV were handed broadcast suspensions.<\/p>\n

Online censorship also intensified, with at least seven websites blocked, 41 news URLs removed, eight pieces of content deleted and access to 21 accounts on X restricted.<\/p>\n

The report also provided sectoral data, noting that as of January 2026 there were 90,293 registered workers in the press, publishing and journalism sector in Turkey, with unionization standing at 13.7 percent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Turkey\u2019s so-called \u201cdisinformation law,\u201d which criminalizes the public spread of false information, has become a tool for silencing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[12011,145,26364,40127,312,429,2033,18505,8789,431,131,132,40128,155,21069],"class_list":{"0":"post-74604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-ankara-bar-association","9":"tag-arrested-journalists","10":"tag-disinformation-law","11":"tag-erinc-sagkan","12":"tag-human-rights","13":"tag-oppression","14":"tag-press-freedom","15":"tag-publicly-disseminating-misleading-information","16":"tag-radio-and-television-supreme-council-rtuk","17":"tag-rule-of-law","18":"tag-stockholm","19":"tag-sweden","20":"tag-the-journalists-union-of-turkey-tgs","21":"tag-turkey","22":"tag-turkish-penal-code"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116517690805883787","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}