The “Disinformation Law” Proposal is a Pro-Censorship Election Regulation!
22 June 2022
The “Bill on the Amendments to the Press Law and Certain Laws,” which is known by the public as the “Disinformation Law” or the “Social Media Regulation” and is actually related to the elections, has been tabled at the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT). The bill will pave the way for inequality in election campaigns.
The proposal regulates many issues ranging from social media to the media and destroys the right to equality in election campaigns or propaganda with 40 articles. While centralizing the electoral regulation with the Electoral Law, it also regulates all means of communication from the press to social media by intervening and, in a way, the path is paved for increased disinformation and censorship.
First Wave Electoral Regulations
The Electoral Law, which constituted the first wave of amendments, had been tabled at the GNAT on 15 March, amending (i) the Law on Parliamentary Elections, (ii) the Law on Political Parties, (iii) the Law on Basic Provisions of Elections and Voter Registers, and (iv) the Law on Elections of Local Authorities and Neighborhood Mukhtars and Boards of Elders. While the 14-article Electoral Law included articles that would lead to unequal elections, its main problem was that it granted the president unrestricted powers over elections.
Opposition parties did not show sufficient interest in the electoral law when it was being debated in the GNAT; only six of the 14 parties took part in the commission meetings and the participation of deputies in the General Assembly was limited. From the minutes we analyzed, there was a complacency that said “they will leave anyway.” As a matter of fact, the bill passed without even electronic voting.
Second Wave Electoral Regulations
This law, which grants the president unrestricted powers to regulate elections and legalizes inequalities in previous elections, is followed by another step towards an even more unfair election by giving the president the authority to intervene in the press and social media.
The “Disinformation Law” proposal was deliberated at the Digital Media Commission as a secondary commission on 1 June but the report of the meeting has not yet been shared. The main committee, the Justice Commission, held three meetings on 9, 14 and 15 June lasting 22 hours and 59 minutes. The commission’s report was then published on 21 June on the GNAT website.
The bill was deliberated in the parliamentary committees for 37 hours and 5 minutes, and a few news reports about the parties’ comments on the bill appeared in the press. However, we have not seen any effective work informing party organizations and voters about the bill that will affect the electoral process and freedom to such an extent.
Third Wave Electoral Regulations
This bill was a foregone conclusion. There were many reports in the press about its content. We also know that two important steps for the election will follow. We had learned from previous news reports that the third wave of regulations would be directed against institutions that produce independent information, for example, independent structures such as ENAG, an alternative to TurkStat, would not be allowed.
For Fair Elections: If Not Now, When?
It is clear that if an election regulation where election rules are determined by one person is amended to an election regulation that gives the right to irregular and unrestricted censorship and blocking of the press, we will face an even more unfair election than the 2018 elections. We demand and expect parties and MPs to attend the General Assembly sessions in full to prevent this bill. As the Election Security Platform, we would like to state that we stand with press organizations and media workers regarding this regulation that will pave the way for disinformation and limit the public’s information in the election.
We do not want a silent election, we want a fair election, a fair ground for propaganda and a democratic election with the right to access information.
ELECTION SECURITY PLATFORM
Alevi Bektashi Federation
Anıtpark Forum
Anti-Capitalist Muslims
Association for Monitoring Equal Rights
Citizens’ Initiative
Citizens’ Assembly
Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK)
Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK)
Eastern and Southeastern Associations’ Platform
Elections 2023 Local Media Coordination
Human Rights Association (İHD)
METU Alumni Association
Mülkiyeliler Union
Not Without You Movement (Sensiz Olmaz Hareketi)
Rights and Justice Platform
Rights Initiative Association
Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV)
Turkish Medical Association (TMA)
Union for Democracy
Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB)