Key Developments, June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024
Despite an increase in mobile speeds and fewer instances of throttling, internet freedom continues to suffer in Turkey, with lengthy prison sentences issued for social media posts, scores of access blocks and content removal orders issued, and the spread of misinformation. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) enacted several laws that increase censorship and surveillance and criminalize online speech. Online troll networks continue to amplify progovernment disinformation, and journalists, activists, and social media users continue to face legal charges for their online content.
Authorities imposed an advertisement ban on social network operator X in July 2023. The ban ended in May 2024, after X opened a local office and appointed a local representative in Turkey (see B1).
In January 2024, the Constitutional Court annulled a clause of a law, which was often used to issue blocking and content removal orders due to “violation of personal rights.” The ruling did not take effect before the end of the current coverage period, and authorities continued to impose significant access blocks and remove content (see B1, B2, and B3).
Some 17 virtual private network (VPN) services were blocked in December 2023 without a court order, further narrowing the online media landscape (see B7).
In May 2024, 20 Kurdish politicians were sentenced to prison terms between 9 and 42 years, including former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) cochairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yuksekdag, largely for social media posts dating back to 2014 (see C3).
Political Overview
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP, which have ruled Turkey since 2002, have become increasingly authoritarian in recent years, consolidating significant power through constitutional changes and by imprisoning opponents and critics. A deepening economic crisis, devastating earthquake, and elections held in May gave the government new incentives to suppress dissent and limit public discourse in 2023.
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