Access to Instagram blocked; top court cancels the authority given to the Directorate of Communication; Diren Keser released; Constitutional Court rules for “rights violation” in Sinan Aygül’s case

Access to Instagram blocked

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) blocked access to Instagram on August 2. The BTK said in a statement that the social media platform was blocked on the grounds that it "did not comply with the rules of catalog crimes."

The query menu on the BTK's website also showed that access to Instagram was blocked.

The catalog crimes include offenses such as sexual abuse against children, incitement to suicide and insulting Atatürk.

No announcement has yet been made about when the block will be lifted or whether there will be other sanctions.

Constitutional Court cancels the authority granted to the Directorate of Communications

 

The Constitutional Court has cancelled the Presidential Decree assigning the Directorate of Communications with the task of "combating disinformation" on the grounds that it "may allow interference with freedom of expression and freedom of the press."

 

The top court ruled that "the strategic communication and crisis management duties assigned to the Directorate of Communication cannot be regulated by Presidential Decree since they are related to freedom of communication and press freedom."

 

The ruling stated that fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 104 of the Constitution cannot be regulated by decree.

 

On the other hand, the Constitutional Court, which announced the judgment on its official account, deleted the post after a while. Afterwards, access to the website of the Constitutional Court was blocked. In the post made on the X account of the top court, the inaccessibility of the website was justified as "intensity in internet traffic."

 

Journalist Diren Keser released from prison

 

PİRHA Reporter and CAN TV Programmer Diren Keser, who was detained from his home in Mersin on 27 February and held in Tarsus Campus Prison, was released on 1 August 2024.

 

A case was brought against Keser in 2017 at Mersin 9th High Criminal Court on the allegation of "terrorism propaganda" over her news posts on Facebook. In the same year, the court sentenced Keser to 2 years 4 months and 3 days in prison. In 2019, Keser, who was imprisoned for about four months, was released from prison, but after the Court of Cassation upheld the sentence again on 2 February 2024, he was detained again on 27 February and sent to Tarsus Prison.

 

Journalist Ruşen Takva announces that he receives threatening messages

 

Journalist Ruşen Takva, who reached and reported on the boy who erased the warning sign "Pêşî Peya (Pedestrian First)" written by Van Metropolitan Municipality on the streets and wrote "Turkey is Turkish and will remain Turkish" on it, announced that he received threatening messages.

 

Takva said, "Following the news report titled 'The boy who made the graffiti in Van got ideas from the lawyer and TEM (Anti-Terror) police,' which we made today and which I think is an important journalistic achievement, I am being systematically threatened from every channel where I can be reached."

 

Takva had reached the 16-year-old boy who made the graffiti and wrote that the boy had received "ideas" from a lawyer and an acquaintance working at the Anti-Terror Department.

 

Constitutional Court's rules for "rights violation" in Sinan Aygül’s case

 

The Constitutional Court has ruled that the penalty imposed on Sinan Aygül, editor-in-chief of Bitlis News and president of Bitlis Journalists' Association, over a news article and an expression he used in the article was a "rights violation."

 

Ruling on Aygül's individual application, the Constitutional Court ruled on 21 May 2024 that Aygül's freedom of expression was violated, stating that the publication of the article did not have a significant impact on Kiler's private life. The Constitutional Court ordered the file to be sent to Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for the cancellation of the violation and retrial and ordered Aygül to pay a non-pecuniary damage of TL 20,000.

 

Aygül had appeared before a judge on 10 December 2014 over an expression he used about AKP Bitlis MP Vahit Kiler in his article titled "Geo-Vurgun" on the news site "www.bitlisnews.com." A lawsuit was filed against Aygül at Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for "insulting through the press." At the final hearing held on 12 December 2015, Aygül was sentenced to a judicial fine of TL 1,500 and the sentence was deferred.

 

Later in 2019, Aygül was sentenced to 10 months in prison by Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for "violating the confidentiality of the investigation" over a reporting on a sexual abuse case. Since Aygül had been sentenced for the second time during the probation period, the verdict of the previous defamation case was also announced and Aygül's sentence from both cases entered the execution process.

 

Access to Medyaradar news site blocked

 

Upon the application of Turkuaz Medya, access to the news site medyaradar.com was blocked. The reason for the blocking was the section titled "Turkuvaz Medya is empty inside!" published on 19 July in the column titled "Ekran Kedisi."

 

As a result of the decision of İstanbul 3rd Criminal Court of Peace dated 30 July 2024 and numbered 2024/6987, the website can only be accessed from foreign IP addresses and via X.

 

Halk Bank sues BirGün for 1 million TL compensation

 

Halk Bank filed a lawsuit against www.birgun.net and BirGün newspaper for TL 1 million over the news articles published on 5 June 2024 with the headlines "550 million loan from Halkbank to mafia" and "Loan from Halkbank to mafia." In the lawsuit petition, it was claimed that the commercial reputation of the bank was damaged.

 

Anadolu 6th Commercial Court of First Instance accepted the petition.

 

BirGün columnist Timur Soykan wrote in the news article that the MASAK Report prepared for the investigation against crime ring leader Ayhan Bora Kaplan revealed that Kaplan had received more than TL 550 million in loans from Halk Bank alone through shell companies.

 

RTÜK launches investigation against Halk TV

 

Ebubekir Şahin, Chairman of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), announced on his social media account on 1 August 2024 that an investigation was initiated against Halk TV.

 

Şahin used the following expressions in his post: "It is not possible for us to accept the broadcasting mentality that is not disturbed by the cruel martyrdom of those who defend the just cause of Palestine, those who fight for the children of Gaza not to be massacred, but on the contrary, defends the perpetrators. As RTÜK, we expect conscientious media like every citizen. An investigation has been launched into Halk TV's reckless broadcasts. We are against such a broadcasting approach. We have not and will not give an opportunity to those who violate the broadcasting principles determined by law."

 

At least 25 journalist and media workers in prison

Following the release of Diren Keser, as of 2 August 2024, there are at least 25 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

The full list can be accessed here.