Turkey Detains Journalists For “Disinformation”

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The free press finds itself under escalating attack in Turkey, where government authorities have, in a disturbing development, detained three journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urgently implored the government to reverse this intimidating course of action, to no avail thus far. Independent columnists, Tolga Şardan of T24 and Cengiz Erdinç of Kısa Dalga, have been taken into police custody – a move widely condemned by press freedom and human rights groups. Additionally, Dinçer Gökçe, a news editor with pro-opposition Halk TV, is now subjected to oddly paternalistic court orders to read and summarize books about his profession. Şardan was released on Monday after his recent arrest due to allegations of spreading disinformation, following a report he published on T24 about judicial corruption. This clampdown on free press was enacted under a 2022 legal mandate which curtails the dissemination of information deemed harmful to national security, public order, or even the country’s general health – in essence, anything that may engender worry or fear among the public. Related: Turkey to jail people for spreading “misinformation” The overly broad scope of this law has led to allegations of it serving as a tool to silence critical voices, a sentiment echoed by countless advocates of press freedom. The charges stem from two separate incidents. Şardan has been accused of disseminating disinformation after publishing a column detailing a report on corruption within the Turkish judiciary,…Turkey Detains Journalists For “Disinformation”