Stories about Turkey
Turkey heads to the polls for local elections
All eyes are on the CHP's Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been in office for five years and AKP's Murat Kurum, the former Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
How Turkey’s opposition media empowers Erdoğan
President Erdoğan and his government are not the sole players in helping to consolidate the country’s democratic dismemberment. The danger comes from the very circles who despise his regime the most.
Turkey bans access to 16 VPN providers
Pundits say, the goal of the recent ban is to prevent access to already blocked news websites in the country that were only accessible with VPN services.
In Turkey, the state is targeting scores of journalists
According to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey is ranked 165th out of 180 countries where "authoritarianism is gaining ground, challenging media pluralism" and "all possible means are used to undermine critics."
Anti-refugee rhetoric and the new far-right on Turkish social media
From openly racist statements from far-right political leaders to claims that news agencies are circulating disinformation to incite violence, social media is not making life safer for refugees in Turkey.
The plight of Kurdish journalists in their struggle for free expression
Kurdish journalists lack a recognized nation state and political recognition. They face opposition from their host countries, which attempt to erase their identity and suppress their freedom of expression.
In Turkey, the state resorts to censorship majeure
Rocked by a devastating earthquake, citizens in Turkey now have to also deal with censorship measures imposed by the state amid an outcry of public criticism.
In Turkey, local court hands popular mayor a jail sentence
The court's decision is largely viewed as the ruling party's attempt to sideline any potential competition ahead of the general election in June 2023.
In Turkey, social media platforms become complicit in censoring media and freedom of speech
Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook have become complicit in aiding the state to silence independent voices in Turkey, even at times when content is not political.
In Turkey, a football federation joins a list of institutions with powers to censor content online
Granting a football federation rights to censor content in the absence of a court order is yet another sign of a narrowing environment for freedoms.
Turkey throttles internet access following deadly explosion in Istanbul
"Those who impose a broadcast ban, supposedly so that the public does not panic, are scaring everyone more by suppressing all the media."
Turkish lawmakers ratify new disinformation bill
Aimed to combat fake news and disinformation, the 40-article legislation passed by Turkey's parliament, is a threat to freedom of speech say critics of the bill.
Whistleblowing is a service to society: Interview with Disruption Network Lab director Tatiana Bazzichelli
Whistleblowers are painted as heroes or villains, but what motivates them? Global Voices spoke to Tatiana Bazzichelli, a writer who recently edited "Whistleblowing for Change," an anthology on the subject.
Unfreedom Monitor Report: Turkey
Advox research into digital authoritarianism in Turkey is now in a report. Read an excerpt and download the full pdf.
Under BTK's eye: investigation reveals Turkey's information and communication authority has been collecting private user data for over a year
The private user data collected by the Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) has been described by main opposition party as the biggest tapping scandal in the history of the Republic.
Access the Unfreedom Monitor database
The Unfreedom Monitor is an Advox initiative to deepen our understanding of the relationship between technology and authoritarian power. In the first phase of this project, researchers working in 11...
Turkey blocks access to two news websites
On June 30, Turkey’s Radio and Television High Council blocked access to the Turkish language websites of Deutsche Welle and Voice of America after two news outlets refused to obtain a broadcaster license.
Trace Turkey's path to normalizing the practice of blocking news websites
The sweeping legislative amendments to national laws as well as exhaustive institutional oversight by government institutions have created an environment of unlimited digital censorship in Turkey.
In Turkey a journalist is arrested for covering an alleged hacking of a government database
The arrest comes after Haskoloğlu reported on an alleged hacking of a government database.
In Turkey, media watchdog uses licensing to attempt to censor foreign media
A 2020 social media law introduced a set of requirements that will have a lasting impact on digital rights and freedom of expression in Turkey.
