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RSF 2025 Press Freedom Predators: Turkey Profile

  • Writer: NCCA
    NCCA
  • Oct 31
  • 2 min read

Updated: Nov 6

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), October 2025

Cover image for Reporters Without Borders’ 2025 Press Freedom Predators report, featuring a world map shaded by press freedom levels and the RSF logo.

Overview

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released the 2025 “Press Freedom Predators” report, naming 34 world leaders and entities responsible for the most serious attacks on journalism.


Under the “Legal Repression” category, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was again identified as one of the world’s worst violators of press freedom—his third appearance since 2016.


RSF highlights that Turkish authorities continue to use the judiciary as a weapon against journalists, deploying charges such as “insulting the president,” “disinformation,” and “terrorist propaganda.” Turkey ranks 159th out of 180 in RSF’s 2025 World Press Freedom Index.



Key Findings

  • Erdogan listed under “Legal Repression” for systematic judicial harassment of journalists.

  • 250 journalists prosecuted under the “insulting the president” law in the past decade; 19 new cases opened in 2025.

  • Fourteen journalists sentenced to prison or fines this year; 20 detained and three placed under house arrest.

  • Five LeMan magazine staff members arrested over a satirical cartoon accused of “insulting religious values.”

  • Swedish journalist Joakim Medin convicted for covering a Kurdish protest in Stockholm.

  • Turkey’s ranking: 159/180, one of the lowest in Europe.

  • RSF cites Alphabet (Google, YouTube) and Meta (Facebook, Instagram) for indirectly harming the media through economic pressures..



Why It Matters

RSF warns that Erdogan’s weaponization of the law represents a systemic model of press suppression. The 2025 report demonstrates how Turkey’s judiciary and digital regulations combine to criminalize dissent, restrict free expression, and extend censorship beyond borders.


“This latest edition of the Press Freedom Predators highlights the diversity of the threats,” said RSF Director-General Thibaut Bruttin. “Those who trample on the freedom to inform must be named and held accountable.”




Tags

RSF · Turkey · Erdogan · Press Freedom · Legal Repression · Hizmet Movement · Journalism · Human Rights

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