Turkish journalists, free speech advocates protest draft bill
Turkish press unions organized nationwide rallies Tuesday to protest the likely passage of a so-called disinformation bill. They worry that jail sentences of up to three years for spreading fake news could be applied to any news the government disapproves of.
ISTANBUL – Claiming the Turkish government is creating another legal tool to punish opposition voices and critical media, press unions organized nationwide rallies in Turkey on Tuesday to protest a law they say will further limit free speech and the flow of information.
Along with other major cities, protests were held in Adana, Ankara, Izmir, Kocaeli and Istanbul, where Turkish media advocates spoke before a wall of journalists holding up printed paper signs, displaying statements like: “Today me, tomorrow you,” “Fake news according to who? According to what?,” “Ban the news, hide inflation” and “The free press will not be silenced.”
“We believe this law has been drafted to target [media outlets] that do not support the ruling party,” Ozge Yurttas, general secretary of the Turkish Press and Printing Workers' Union, said at the gathering in central Istanbul.
The parliament’s Justice Committee approved the draft bill last Wednesday (June 15), meaning its changes to Turkey’s Press Law now await a vote in parliament, which is expected to pass the bill through a simple majority vote held by members of Turkey’s ruling coalition between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
