Rowing Against Current Just As Difficult As Ever

Michael Hedges October 6, 2014 - Follow on Twitter

Awful things are popping out all over the internet. Politicians vow to make it safe, at least for themselves. We understand their frustration. But the internet and all things that spring from it are not just a well of ideas to be bottled up. On this river everything flows.

“Our President did not mention being against the internet,” said the press spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reported Milliyet (October 4), his words were “distorted by some media outlets.” President Erdogan and other senior Turkish government officials received representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI) in Ankara last week. The media freedom advocates called the meetings “open and frank.”

“I am increasingly against the internet every day,” said President Erdogan, according to a CPJ report of the meeting released on its website (October 3). Earlier this year protests stemming from an edict allowing the government to close websites without due process turned violent. Shortly thereafter access to Twitter and YouTube was blocked.  

“He just sought to draw attention to the fact that social media could be used as a propaganda tool by (Islamic State) and similar organizations,” said presidential spokesperson Lutfullah Goktas to State news agency Anatolia (October 4). “Then he emphasized that this was a worrying trend and he was increasingly concerned about it. So it has nothing to do with being anti-internet.”

Turkey’s Constitutional Court, certainly without coincidence, sent several pieces of recently passed legislation to the dustbin on the day of the meetings with media freedom advocates. One in particular had given the Telecommunications Directorate authority to block websites without a court order for “reasons of national security,” “maintenance of public order” and “preventing a crime from being committed,” reported Today’s Zaman (October 4).  The Justices invalidated the legislation for circumventing Turkish law requiring public notice and parliamentary discussion. Majority-holding Justice and Development Party (AK) members, apparently, moved the bills and amendments forward without encumbrance from legislative rules.

Another politician concerned about the web’s disruptive power in Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin. A recent presidential Security Council meeting, reported respected business daily Vedomosti (September 19), focused on the possibility of “unplugging” the Russian internet from the rest of the world. Media freedom watchers were appalled, again. Owned by the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal (News Corporation) and Finnish publishing house Sanoma, Vedomosti’s existence is threatened by new Russian rules on media ownership

Share prices of Russian ISPs Yandex and Mail.ru Group immediately tanked, reported Bloomberg (October 1). Then, swiftly, State media pulled back from the idea of unplugging. “Discussions on cutting off… from the global internet were not on the agenda,” said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. 

As reported by the CPJ, Turkish officials “aggressively defended” the government’s record on press freedom with one particular issue sticking like a thorn. “Media should never have been given the liberty to insult,” said President Erdogan. After New York Times correspondent Ceylan Yeginsu wrote about Turkish citizens being recruited by Islamic State terrorists she was targeted by AK-sympathetic media outlets and threatened on social media. Economist correspondent Amberlin Zaman was specifically called out by President Erdogan – at an election rally, no less – as a “shameless militant disguised as a journalist.”   

Turkish authorities have, generally, pushed the country’s media outlets into subservience and are renowned for jailing journalists, though the current number behind bars is down to ten.

“That (President Erdogan) sat down with the delegation, the meeting itself, was the message,” noted CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. “We remain very prepared and determined to continue defending the rights of our colleagues and press freedoms in this country.”

See also in ftm Knowledge

Media in Turkey

With roots in the East and branches in the West, media in Turkey is big, bold and sometimes government controlled. This ftm Knowledge file shows the size and the shape of this rich media market. 62 pages PDF includes Resources (August 2013)

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Press/Media Freedom - Challenges and Concerns

Press and media freedom worldwide is facing challenges from many corners. As authoritarian leaders impose strict control over traditional and new media with impunity, media watchers have concerns for democracy. This ftm Knowledge file accounts the troubles of this difficult decade. 88 pages. PDF (December 2011)

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