Türkiye: IFJ Condemns Escalating Use of “Disinformation Law” Against Journalists

A coalition of 25 press freedom organizations has condemned Turkey’s escalating use of its controversial “disinformation law” to target journalists, calling for its immediate repeal and the release of all journalists detained under the provision.

Since its implementation in October 2022, Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code has been wielded against journalists at least 114 times, affecting 83 media professionals. The International Federation of Journalists, along with numerous other press freedom groups, warns that this represents a dangerous pattern of criminalizing legitimate journalism in Turkey.

The law has seen particularly aggressive enforcement in recent months. Two journalists have emerged as primary targets: İsmail Arı of BirGün newspaper, charged six times, and Alican Uludağ of Deutsche Welle Turkish, charged four times. Both are currently imprisoned.

Uludağ’s case highlights the concerning trend. On February 19, the judicial reporter was detained in Ankara and transferred to Istanbul on dual charges of “insulting the president” and spreading disinformation. While his current imprisonment stems from the insult charge, he still faces the disinformation allegations.

Journalist Bilal Özcan has been held in pretrial detention since March 15 after reporting that an influencer’s death might have been homicide rather than suicide. Officials deemed this reporting violated Article 217/A.

İsmail Arı’s arrest on March 22 followed his reporting on financial mismanagement of public foundations. Despite his insistence that the information was already public knowledge, Arı was imprisoned at Sincan Prison in Ankara, where he remains.

April saw further enforcement actions. On April 14, journalists Murat Ağırel and Barış Pehlivan each received 15-month prison sentences for commentary about Turkey-Israel trade relations on a television broadcast. Their verdicts remain under appeal.

The same day, Zafer Arapkirli was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for a social media post condemning jihadist attacks on Alawite settlements in Syria.

On April 17, NEO TV journalist Turgay Kılıç was detained for sharing screenshots of threats against schools in İzmir circulating on Telegram. Though later released under judicial supervision, he still faces prosecution.

The pattern continued with Mehmet Yetim, editorial director of Kulis TV, who was detained on April 18 for a social media post. Despite his family’s assertions that he had no criminal intent, the court ordered his pretrial detention.

Critics argue the fundamental problem with Article 217/A is its vague language, which fails to clearly define what constitutes “untrue information” or specify what content poses security threats. This ambiguity gives courts unchecked power to criminalize journalism that challenges government narratives.

As one persecuted journalist noted, any information not sourced directly from the government risks being deemed false under the current interpretation.

The coalition of press freedom organizations, which includes groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists, PEN International, and Reporters Without Borders, argues that Turkey’s approach makes it “a regional and even global outlier in the misuse of regressive fake news and disinformation legislation.”

The statement emphasizes that a free and independent press serves as the most effective safeguard against misinformation, not criminalization of journalism.

The organizations have called on Turkish authorities to immediately release all journalists detained under Article 217/A, drop all pending charges related to reporting activities, repeal the law entirely, and align all freedom of expression legislation with Turkey’s international obligations.

This joint statement was coordinated by the International Press Institute as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response initiative, a mechanism funded by the European Commission to monitor and respond to press freedom violations across Europe.