Turkey bans independent news sites in latest move to silence opposition
Following a new law restricting the online news media, a court order blocking 136 websites and social media accounts has highlighted the shrinking space for oppositional voices in Turkey.
Independent journalist Hayri Tunc first noticed his news site Gazete Fersude was blocked on July 18.
He had been running the small alternative news outlet on personal funds for about a year with a team of five editors and 15 contributors. It was one of several news sites founded to fill a coverage gap left by the shuttering of nearly 200 news outlets since a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Media freedoms have been stifled as ongoing legal proceedings have landed at least 138 Turkish journalists behind bars, according to the press monitor Platform24.
Tunc said he wasn’t notified before Fersude was blocked on Turkish servers. In the past, he received court orders regarding specific articles that would result in legal proceedings if not removed from the website. Lacking the finances to hire a lawyer, Tunc usually complied to keep the publication operating.
“We try not to challenge those requests because we’re a small outlet,” Tunc told Al-Monitor. “Is it compliance to remove content? Not really. If even one person reads our content, it’s powerful. You get the information out.”
