“The vote will test whether voters in Turkey can rely on social media for independent news and to express their views on the election and its outcome, despite government efforts to put companies under its heel.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 5-11-2023 by Common Dreams

As Turks prepare to vote in Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections, a pair of human rights groups warned Wednesday that the right-wing government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “will exert considerable control over the digital ecosystem in an effort to undermine the outcome.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Article 19, an international group promoting freedom of expression, published a question-and-answer report examining “potential threats to Turkey’s online environment in the parliamentary and presidential elections in which President Erdoğan—who has been in power for over 20 years—and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) face a significant electoral challenge.”