Censorship report: News about Erdoğan and his family were the most blocked
The Free Web Turkey 2022 Internet Censorship Report has been released. According to the report, access to at least 40,536 URLs was blocked in 2022.
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Free Web Turkey has released its Censorship Report, prepared by Project Coordinator Ali Safa Korkut, covering the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022.
CENSORSHIP ON DISSIDENT SITES
In 2022, the highest number of access blocks, 35,066, was applied to domain names. Of these 35,066 domain names, 35,000 were sites alleged to be publishing content themed around “adult, betting, fraud, financial sites, and terrorism,” followed by 51 sites categorized as “dissident sites.”
The term “dissident sites” refers to the websites of newspapers that adopt a publishing policy diametrically opposed to the government's ideology, such as Etkin News Agency (ETHA), Mesopotamia Agency, Kızıl Bayrak, Jin News, Siyasi Haber, Umut Gazetesi, Komün Dergi, Gazete Yolculuk, Özgür Gelecek, PİRHA, Yeni Demokrasi, and Kaldıraç Dergisi.
DISSIDENT SITES BLOCKED 51 TIMES
At least 53 domain names belonging to dissident sites were blocked through 51 different court orders. Among the dissident sites, ETHA had the highest number of domain name blocks. ETHA, which began 2022 publishing via the domain etha28.com, ended the year publishing from the address etha49.com. Accordingly, access block orders were issued for exactly 21 of the agency's domain names in 2022.
BETTING, PIRATED CONTENT, AND FINANCIAL SITES ALSO ON THE LIST
All URLs blocked by Provincial Gendarmerie Commands were blocked on the grounds that they were publishing content themed around “adult, betting, fraud, financial sites, and terrorism.”
While the first seven spots were occupied by Provincial Gendarmerie Commands, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) ranked eighth with 866 URLs, and the Capital Markets Board (SPK) ranked ninth with 852 URLs.
It was determined that the domain names blocked by the TFF belonged to sites broadcasting pirated matches, while those blocked by the SPK belonged to sites conducting unauthorized forex trading.
CENSORSHIP ON NEWS REGARDING ERDOĞAN AND HIS FAMILY
When looking at the distribution of at least 3,196 blocked news items by subject, news mentioning allegations of corruption regarding President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family ranked first. Access block orders were issued for a total of 1,770 news items covering this topic.
This was followed by 517 news items detailing allegations of corruption regarding individuals and organizations close to the AKP.
Next were 402 items regarding President Erdoğan's former lawyer. This category included content about Mustafa Doğan İnal, who served as Erdoğan's lawyer for a period.
*In a large portion of the news items in the “Company” and “Individuals and organizations close to the AKP” categories, the mentioned individuals and companies not only have a close relationship with the government but also engage in business partnerships with the state. Therefore, it is also possible to evaluate the news items tagged under these categories within the “Government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family” category.
'VIOLATION OF PERSONAL RIGHTS' CITED AS REASON
“Violation of personal rights” ranked first among the reasons for blocking the news. Of the 3,196 news items blocked in 2022, 3,191 were blocked due to “violation of personal rights,” 3 for “protection of national security and public order,” and 2 on the grounds of “statute of limitations, where the news no longer meets the criteria of ‘reality and accuracy’ for that date.”
Looking at the primary distribution of news blocked due to violation of personal rights, it was observed that news concerning the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family was the most blocked, with 1,770 items.
This was followed by 515 news items about individuals or organizations close to the AKP, while news about President Erdoğan’s former lawyer, Mustafa Doğan İnal, ranked third with 402 items.
THE BİLAL ERDOĞAN EXAMPLE
In 2022, numerous access block orders were also issued for news reports announcing that a previous news item or post had been blocked. However, a news report regarding a tender won by a high school friend of President Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan, stood out among these.