DISINFORMATION LAW
1. Context
Turkey's parliament adopted the much-critiqued "disinformation law" that accords jail terms of up to three years to social media users and journalists for spreading "disinformation".
2. Entailment of the law
- The disinformation law comprises about 40 articles that would amend about 23 different laws.
- Of the 40, the most contentious is Article 29.
- It designates it an offence to publicly disseminate misleading information about the country's internal and external security, public order and general well-being to cause fear or panic among the populace.
| The Turkish government has argued that the law would combat cases where the internet is used to share illegal content under false names and where anonymous accounts slander and defame individuals of differing political thought, religion or ethnicity. |
- The article introduces a jail term between one and three years for any violation with the extension of an additional half of the initially stipulated term if the actions are done in anonymity.
- To implement this law, social media platforms could now be asked to hand over user data to Turkish courts.
3. Concerns
3.1 Venice Commission
- The Venice Commission which is the advisory body to the Council of Europe on constitutional matters, have pointed to the unclear interpretation of certain crucial terminologies, especially "disinformation".
- The legislation accords the responsibility of determining the same to prosecutors.
- Turkey being a heavily polarised country and the courts having previously turned against journalists and other social scientists do not lend a confident picture.
| For example, in Writing for Brookings, Asli Aydinatasbas, Visiting Fellow at the Center on the U.S. and Europe points to how watchdogs challenged the official government statistic for September inflation of 83.45 per cent. An independent watchdog, ENAG pegged it at 186 per cent. |
- The Commission also highlighted concerns on assertions about what should constitute a disturbance to "public peace".
- "Following the meeting with the authorities, what seems to be the most alarming is that a public protest may be considered in itself a disturbance of public peace". it stated in its report.
4. Missing clarity
- This also triggers questions on "dissemination" of the alleged 'disinformation' especially when the boundaries between physical and online spaces are blurred.
- Thus, the legislation lacks clarity on how the entity shall be deemed guilty, that is, for sharing or manufacturing the information (especially in an offline space).
- For the above-mentioned reasons, a jail term appears to be a stretched penal provision.
5. Concerns of the Journalists
- The law would now recognise news websites as part of mainstream media and they would thus have to comply with the same regulations as those for newspapers.
- This includes taking down reports when flagged by a regulatory authority and publishing a refutation on the same hyperlink.
| Turkey already has an unimpressive record regarding press freedom. It ranks 149 out of 180 in the Press Freedom Index 2022. |
6. Journalists Union of Turkey
Additionally, as per a report of the Journalists Union of Turkey, more than 270 journalists were put on trial last year, while 57 others were physically assaulted and 54 news websites and 1, 355 articles were blocked.
For Prelims & Mains
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For Prelims: Turkey, Journalists Union of Turkey, Disinformation law, Press Freedom Index, Venice Commission.
For Mains:
1. What is disinformation law and discuss its concerns (250 Words)
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Source: The Hindu
