Index on Censorship weekly round-up
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Friday, 16 August 2024
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The Turkish and Russian presidents meeting earlier in 2024. Photo: Office of Russian president
On 1 August, a significant prisoner swap between the USA and Russia took place in Turkey’s capital Ankara and 26 prisoners were freed, including the peerless American reporter Evan Gershkovich. In playing a central role in the most extensive prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) won accolades. The operation reminded the world that its NATO membership has been the cornerstone of Turkey's defence and security policy since it joined the bloc in 1952.
Yet over the next 24 hours, Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority barred access to Instagram without providing a specific reason. Reports suggested the ban was a response to Instagram’s removing posts related to the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a close ally of Turkey’s strongman president.
During his 21-year reign, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has established himself as the most relentless implementer of censorship in Turkish history. Twitter, Wikipedia, OnlyFans, YouTube, Google Sites, Blogger, Blogspot, Google Docs, SoundCloud, WordPress, Facebook, Reddit, Google Drive, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, and Roblox have been among the victims of Erdoğan’s censorship.
Erdoğan has always oppressed free voices by tagging them as fascists. He has attacked and imprisoned all sectors of Turkish society under that accusation—except for Turkey’s actual fascistic groups which are parts of his far-right governing coalition.
On 5 August, Erdoğan accused Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta of “digital fascism.” But five days later, Turkey restored access to Instagram. The nine-day block reminded people of the arbitrary nature of Erdoğan’s regime, which is built on macho posturing to audiences at home and bullying “foreign powers” in the name of the Turkish nation.
Turkish users could then reaccess Instagram after the country’s minister of transport and infrastructure claimed Instagram had accepted that “our demands… will be met”. Yet Instagram continues to remove posts mourning the death of Haniyeh: nothing has changed
Three days after Instagram was reinstated, a woman who criticised Erdoğan’s ban in an earlier YouTube interview was arrested for “insulting Turkey’s President”. She was sent to a prison where she remains at the time of writing this.
For some, Erdoğan’s Instagram ban was but a pointless act. I see it as part of a more ominous tactic. Banning Instagram solidifies the idea that censorship in Turkey is all about Erdoğan’s whims. The strongman can cut access to Google, Amazon, Netflix, iCloud, and other vital internet services if and when he feels like it. He’s all-powerful: no legal entity can stop him from doing whatever he wants.
Kaya Genç
Contributing editor, Turkey
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** Violent repression and torture in Zimbabwe on eve of major development conference
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President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa at a 2019 SADC summit.
Photo: GCIS South Africa/CC BY-ND 2.0
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a deepening human rights crisis ahead of hosting a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) summit on Saturday when its leader Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has deployed army tanks in townships and launched a major crackdown against dissenting voices, will assume the bloc’s chairmanship. Read Clemence Manyukwe's story here ([link removed]) .
** The importance of local journalism to understanding the UK riots
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Thousands of police filled the streets after the attack in Southport. Photo: LimeSpiked ([link removed])
The riots which erupted this month in the UK in response to disinformation about the knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, took many people by surprise. But not Joshi Herrmann, the founder of Mill Media, whose company has a new approach to local journalism, writes Martin Bright ([link removed]) .
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**
The Final Cut
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** An evening of film, discussion and solidarity
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** Tuesday 17 September, 5.30pm | Colours Hoxton
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Who determines what we see on screen? Why censor cinema? Join Index on Censorship for the launch of our summer magazine with a special focus on Iranian cinema, censorship and culture. The event features a screening of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's Cannes-award winning 3 Faces (2018), made while under a 20 year filmmaking ban, plus a panel discussion and standing in solidarity with Toomaj Salehi.
More information and to register for free: click here ([link removed])
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** From the Index archives
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** Women journalists caught in middle of a nightmare
by Zahra Nader
January 2022
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After the fall of Kabul when Western forces withdrew from the country three years ago this week, many Afghan journalists - women in particular - were forced to flee the Taliban or went into hiding from the brutal regime. Read this harrowing account here ([link removed]) .
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Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.
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