'Turkey has long been hell for journalists': Reporters slam country's new 'fake news' law

Seven years ago, Sevgi Akarcesme reported connected a bid of constabulary raids connected Turkey's media industry, which near a way of newsrooms being unopen down 1 by 1 — until the clip for her ain outlet came.

Akarcesme, past the editor-in-chief for what utilized to beryllium Turkey's fig 1 English daily, Today's Zaman, told CNBC connected Tuesday that it was evident past that the constabulary would commencement coming for her. That prompted her to permission successful 2016 to instrumentality up a teaching relation successful the United States.

"Turkey has agelong been hellhole for journalists. It's 1 of the largest prisons for journalists successful the satellite successful a way," she said. 

Turkey's Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure — which besides oversees connection services — did not instantly respond to a CNBC petition for remark connected the remarks successful this article.

Turkey's Parliament past week ratified a instrumentality introducing jailhouse presumption for journalists and societal media users who dispersed "fake news," oregon disinformation. The word "fake news" is often defined, much broadly, arsenic misleading oregon fabricated accusation peddled arsenic morganatic news.

The law, projected by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, comes 8 months earlier the country's wide election.

The bill, which inactive needs to beryllium approved by Erdogan, stated that anyone who spreads mendacious accusation astir Turkey's information to "create fearfulness and disturb nationalist order" volition look a situation condemnation of up to 3 years.

"With this caller instrumentality … the extremity is to power societal media due to the fact that accepted media is already nether Erdogan's control," said Akarcesme.

The instrumentality includes articles specified arsenic property paper issuances and a process connected correcting online disinformation. On apical of that, sentences tin beryllium accrued by up to fractional if the disinformation is dispersed done anonymous accounts.

"The haste with which this instrumentality was passed whitethorn bespeak that the government's nonsubjective is to summation unit connected journalists and societal media users earlier the elections," Turkish Journalists' Association's General Secretary Mustafa Kuleli wrote successful an email to CNBC.

He added that it is unclear however prosecutors volition mete retired punishment against perpetrators arsenic the transgression is defined successful "vague and open-ended terms" and lacks wide ineligible definitions.

"This instrumentality does not lone impact journalists, it does not lone impact societal media users. This instrumentality is simply a menace to anybody who has the quality to speak, oregon work and write," Turkey representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Ozgur Ogret, told CNBC. 

He added that the deficiency of a concrete explanation of disinformation volition pb to self-censorship — adjacent erstwhile it comes to facts.

"The measure provides a model for extended censorship of online accusation and the criminalization of journalism, which volition alteration the authorities to further subdue and power nationalist statement successful the pb up to Turkey's wide elections successful 2023," said a coalition of 22 property state organizations from astir the world.

The connection released by the property state groups mentioned that the bill's "vaguely-formulated definition" of what constitutes disinformation volition taxable millions of net users to the hazard of transgression sanction.

Turkey's Transport and Infrastructure Deputy Minister Omer Fatih Sayan tweeted past week that helium "regrets to see" that "hate speech, disinformation, manipulation" are increasing "like an avalanche" connected societal media platforms.

"We indispensable found a cleaner and safer net for our citizens, this is our astir important duty," helium tweeted.

The measure is seen arsenic different measurement successful an already deteriorating situation for escaped speech. Turkey's media clime hasn't improved successful implicit a decade, according to Ogret.

"Turkey's media clime contiguous has precise overmuch little colour … particularly aft the 2016 coup attempt," helium said.

Ever since the military's attempted coup successful 2016, 189 media outlets person unopen down, according to online media tracker Turkey Purge. Revocations of property cards and arrests of members of the property were a communal occurrence astatine the time.

Following the coup, newsroom crackdowns ensued and a bid of trials against journalists were launched. 

Akarcesme added that successful the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt, nary media outlets challenged the regime's rhetoric.

"A batch of the assortment successful the media scenery has been mislaid successful the past 5 to 10 years," Ogret said.

Turkey presently ranks 149 retired of 180 countries successful the planetary Press Freedom Index, with 90% of nationalist media nether authorities control, according to planetary non-profit enactment Reporters Without Borders.

When the scale debuted successful 2002, Turkey ranked 107 retired of 172 and was categorized arsenic "partly free."

"There isn't a clip wherever Turkey did not person journalists imprisoned oregon outlets harassed, nevertheless … the past decennary has been brutal for the Turkish media environment," said Ogret.