Turkey cracks down on journalists, others as coronavirus rumors spread
Turkish journalists and social media users alike are facing charges for sharing "lies" and "manipulating the public" as Ankara finds its coronavirus responses under scrutiny.
ISTANBUL – A prominent Turkish journalist became the target of two criminal complaints late Monday evening after posting a tweet implying the state might require citizens to contribute personal savings to help fund the national coronavirus response.
Fatih Portakal, a popular and often critical anchor at the Fox News channel in Turkey, where the network is considered oppositional to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was accused of “spreading lies and manipulating the public on social media,” according to the state-run Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
Both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Authority filed criminal complaints against Portakal hours after he shared the tweet, highlighting the limits on free speech afforded to media professionals amid the pandemic in Turkey, which remains among the world’s top jailers of journalists.
“The government and the judiciary are taking every opportunity to crack down on prominent journalists because they don’t want alternative dialogues established in the public opinion,” Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders and Bianet media freedom rapporteur, told Al-Monitor.
