Members of the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Executive Board today called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his supporters in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to immediately halt a disingenuous campaign of vilification against the Doğan Media Group and its daily newspaper Hürriyet that has raged this week. The president and [...]
A proposal by Turkish officials to prohibit critical media from using state satellite broadcasting infrastructure just as the country is nearing general elections would amount to censorship, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today. Turkish media reported that Ankara public prosecutor Serdar Coşkun, head of the Bureau for Crimes against the Constitutional Order, wrote [...]
Turkish journalists marked World Press Freedom Day on Sunday with a march calling for people to “stand up for journalism”, saying that the fight for press freedom is “the struggle of every citizen that misses a free and democratic Turkey”. “[F]reedom is the oxygen of journalism, and free journalism is the assurance of democracy", [...]
Myanmar should move to reverse recent, troubling developments setting back press freedom in order to meet its leaders’ public commitments to protect the fundamental human right, leading global journalists gathered in the country said today. Members of the International Press Institute (IPI), meeting at their 64th Annual General Assembly during the 2015 IPI World [...]
In support of a campaign calling on Turkish authorities to reform laws criminalising ‘insult’ and to cease using such provisions to target critics
Turkish authorities’ failure to safeguard – and, in some cases, their active steps to undermine – the right to share and receive information has led to serious deficiencies in the country’s democracy, placing its future at serious risk, a special report released today by the International Press Institute (IPI) concludes. The report, “Democracy at [...]
IPI Special Report on Turkey, 2015
The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the ongoing detention in Turkey of Mehmet Baransu, a columnist for daily newspaper Taraf. A court in Istanbul yesterday declined a request to release Baransu, who has been held since March 1 on allegations that he procured, publicised and then destroyed documents related to the Turkish state’s [...]
The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern over reports that Dutch journalist Fréderike Geerdink could face up to five years in prison in Turkey on accusations that she spread terrorist propaganda on social media. The case reportedly stems from comments the Turkey-based freelance journalist posted on social media and on a blog promoting [...]
Read and Download "Out of Balance" presents an authoritative analysis of criminal defamation and insult laws in the EU. It reveals that just five out of 28 EU member states have repealed general criminal defamation and insult laws, despite broad international consensus among legal experts and press freedom advocates that criminal punishments for [...]