Online news censorship in Turkey breaks record in June

ALİ SAFA KORKUT

A record number of online news articles in Turkey have been blocked in the first week of June, marking the highest count for any comparable period this year. In the period between June 1 and June 7, access to 307 news articles was blocked by peace criminal judges. This was a stark increase compared to the 67 news articles that were blocked in the first week of June 2022. In comparison, January saw the closest number of blockages for the first week of any other month, with the rest of the year paling in comparison to June's numbers. A closer look at the content and distribution of the 307 articles reveals that the top subject, with 177 news articles, revolves around Deputy Health Minister Şuayip Birinci. Birinci has been associated with news regarding a confession to using an unknown drug in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in an article published in an international magazine. He is also linked to allegations of double-salary collection, irregularities in the procurement for Isparta City Hospital, and accusations of the Ministry of Health identifying the COVID-19 virus in February but failing to disclose it. As a result of these allegations, access to all 177 articles mentioning Birinci were blocked according to a June 4 decision by the Ankara 2nd Peace Criminal Court. In second place are articles concerning a hearse, owned by a company belonging to a son-in-law of the Albayrak family, which was found to contain drugs. The vehicle was employed by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Following this revelation, 96 articles related to the incident were blocked as per a June 4 decision by the Bakirkoy 4th Peace Criminal Court. The third most common subject pertains to Fahrettin Poyraz, the former General Manager of the Turkey Agricultural Credit Cooperatives. Thirty-four articles discussing allegations of corruption involving Poyraz, including his concerted efforts to prevent journalists from reporting on these allegations which resulted in him being condemned to pay compensation, were blocked as per a June 2 decision by the Bakirkoy 5th Peace Criminal Court.