{"id":"TUR-040","notes":"Second stage of information criminalisation campaign (TUR-CAMP-007); completes legislative framework alongside Social Media Law 7253 (TUR-032); 953,415 websites blocked by end 2023 per TUSEV data","country":"Turkey","sources":[{"url":null,"citation":"TUSEV CSO Monitoring Matrix Turkey 2022-2023; Law No. 7418 (18 October 2022); RSF Press Freedom Index 2023"}],"summary":"Law No. 7418 — commonly known as the 'disinformation law' — amended the Press Law No. 5187 and added Article 217/A to the Turkish Penal Code, criminalizing 'publicly disseminating misleading information' with imprisonment of 1 to 3 years (aggravated to 1.5 to 4.5 years if committed anonymously or through media organizations). Within weeks, a journalist was arrested for reporting on MIT (Turkish intelligence) activities. Internet news sites were brought under press law obligations for the first time. The law's deliberately vague 'misleading information' standard gave prosecutors broad discretion. TUSEV qualitative research confirmed direct chilling effect on civil society communications, with organizations self-censoring social media content.","tactics":[{"code":"TC-18","role":"primary","label":"Legislative Operationalization","needs_review":false},{"code":"TC-41","role":"secondary","label":"Media Distribution Exclusion","needs_review":false}],"version":1,"channels":["BTK","Courts","Parliament","Prosecution","RTÜK"],"entities":[{"id":1127,"name":"Grand National Assembly; Prosecution; AKP parliamentary majority","role":"actor","entity_type":"Legislature; Judiciary"},{"id":1128,"name":"Journalists; civil society communicators; social media users; online news organizations","role":"target","entity_type":"Media; Individual; CSO"}],"date_text":"18/10/2022","created_at":"2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00","escalation":5,"harm_track":"Track 2 — Information Environment","narratives":[{"code":"NF-10","role":"primary","label":"Sovereignty Protection / State Security Infrastructure","needs_review":false},{"code":"NF-06","role":"secondary","label":"Destabilization Agent","needs_review":false}],"report_ids":[],"signal_ids":[],"updated_at":"2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00","occurred_on":"2022-10-18","campaign_ids":["TUR-CAMP-007"],"enabler_type":"","response_ids":[],"trigger_type":"TR-08: Proactive / Ambient","campaign_phase":"Phase 2: Institutionalization of Mechanism","civic_response":"RSF, CPJ, IPI, Article 19 issued condemnations; opposition CHP challenged constitutionality at Constitutional Court; civil society communications organizations documented self-censorship; EU Progress Report 2022 cited law as major setback","date_precision":"day","enabler_status":"","campaigns_served":[],"consequence_category":"Legislative Censorship; Criminalisation of Expression; Chilling Effect; Platform Capture","institutional_consequence":"Criminal liability for undefined 'misleading information' created for all online communicators; internet news sites subject to press law for first time; journalist arrested within weeks of enactment; TUSEV documented CSO self-censorship in communications; Turkey ranked 165th/180 on RSF Press Freedom Index 2023"}