UN: Türkiye must respect freedom of expression online

ARTICLE 19 makes this statement jointly with Türkiye-based Media and Law Studies Association and Alternative Informatics Association.

Freedom of expression online is in crisis in Türkiye as the government continues its systemic efforts to silence dissent. With legal amendments in 2020 and 2022, online censorship measures were expanded, administrative authorities were granted broad powers in their enforcement, and restrictive obligations were imposed on social media companies. In disregard of resolutions passed here at the Human Rights Council, Türkiye criminalised "disseminating disinformation" and defined it broadly.

Access to over 200,000 URLs were blocked in 2023. In August 2024, Instagram was blocked for over a week with a complete lack of transparency and accountability on the side of the government.

Türkiye also has a history of social media throttling in times of crisis. Access to X (then Twitter) and TikTok were restricted for twelve hours after the devastating earthquakes in February 2023, hampering rescue efforts as survivors under the rubble were actively calling for help on Twitter.

Judicial bodies have repeatedly failed to follow Constitutional Court rulings favouring freedom of expression. Parliament has not addressed structural problems in the legislation identified by said rulings. The Constitutional Court's annulment of several online censorship provisions is set to take effect on October 10.

We call on the Turkish government to:

• Ensure full implementation of Constitutional Court rulings;
• Repeal or amend laws that do not comply with freedom of expression standards;
• Refrain from throttling or blocking social media platforms;
• Refrain from pressuring social media platforms to censor online content; and,
• Increase transparency in all interferences with internet freedom.