The earthquake disaster in southeastern Turkey has brought more pressure on the country’s already muted media as the government seeks to contain popular anger over its response to the tragedy, which hit just months before crucial elections.

With most of Turkey’s media long under government control, independent media outlets have faced various forms of pressure since the Feb. 6 quakes — from the detention and bullying of their reporters on the ground to financial penalties and broadcasting bans. Despite their limited resources, the impact of independent media appears to scare the government. The post-quake experience offers a clue as to what means of censorship Ankara might employ in the run-up to the elections, due in June at the latest.

In addition to the emergency rule declared in the 11 affected provinces, a recently introduced law stipulating jail sentences for spreading “fake news” has been hanging over the head of the media as the sword of Damocles. In his first address to the nation after the quakes, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that those who attempt to disseminate “fake news and distortions” were being “closely” monitored. “We’ll open [the notes] that we are now keeping when the time comes,” he said.

The main criticism that Ankara faced after the quakes was that a slow, disorganized and inadequate deployment of first responders and equipment to the disaster zone in the first two days prevented the rescue of more people trapped under the rubble. The sluggish distribution of tents further infuriated quake victims battling wintry conditions. Also, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) — in power for more than two decades — has come under fire for poor enforcement of building codes, allowing construction booms in quake-prone areas and passing a law in 2018 that legalized hundreds of thousands of illegal or substandard structures in return for a fee.