Elections Threatened by Turkey’s Control of the Internet

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and ARTICLE 19 warned that government control of the internet was threatening the elections and called on social media companies to resist the threats. They also jointly urged the Turkish authorities to end the crackdown on civil society and to ensure the right to freedom of expression and privacy, especially in the run-up to and during elections.

ARTICLE 19 and HRW have published a Q&A examining possible threats to Turkey’s online environment during the parliamentary and presidential elections. Deborah Brown, the senior technology researcher at HRW, said the Turkish government has accelerated efforts to enforce censorship and tighten control over social media and independent online news sites ahead of the election. According to the report, the government often blocks websites and orders the removal of content expressing opposing views, and has a track record of blocking access to popular social media networks during periods of political unrest or when it expects criticism, as it did after the devastating February 2023 earthquakes.

Both organizations are concerned that on election day the government may use its full online censorship powers to restrict access to social media platforms that disseminate information that competes with the government’s narrative. According to the review, only Meta and TikTok outlined their approach to the Turkish elections. Twitter and YouTube, on the other hand, have no general election-related policies, and Telegram has no policy on disinformation or elections.

Of particular concern is the failure to label Turkey’s state news agency, Anadolu Agency (AA), as “state-affiliated”, despite its long history of labeling state-affiliated accounts on Twitter. On election day, the AA is expected to be the main source of distorted voting results in favor of the government, including early claims of an AKP victory that could seriously contradict the findings of independent monitoring bodies. Both organizations urge social media companies to create contingency plans to ensure public access to their platforms during the election period.