A new Freedom House report says that internet users in Turkey and Serbia, as in other countries around the world, have to contend with growing censorship and misinformation, particularly during elections.
Washington-based rights organisation Freedom House’s latest report on internet freedoms worldwide, published on Wednesday, warned that in south-east Europe, censorship and misinformation are persistent problems in Turkey and Serbia.
Online liberties in Turkey remain threatened by the actions of the government, Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2024 report said.
“Internet freedom in Turkey remains under threat even though the country has observed a single point overall increase in this year’s analysis, due to the absence of a natural disaster that devastated the infrastructure, as in years before,” Gurkan Ozturan, Freedom House’s Turkey rapporteur, told BIRN.
Ozturan noted that many violations reported during election periods but this is not the only major issue.
“There were many cases of digital violations during the election process, including blocking access to news outlets. Regarding the elections in May 2023, other cases of violations were detected retrospectively during the reporting period,” Ozturan said, underlining the increase in access blocks of news articles and other content, as well as access blocks of digital platforms.
According to the report, Turkey stood out with negative examples in all five categories of arbitrary access blocking, blocking of social media and communication, blocking of access to news, and arrests and physical attacks on users. Turkey “set a bad example for the rest of the world,” Ozturan said.
People in Serbia also suffered from a politically manipulated online space, particularly during elections, the report said.
“Ahead of Serbia’s December 2023 elections, pro-government tabloids published false and misleading information about the opposition and independent media, including a fake video purporting to show the political opposition buying votes. These campaigns disproportionately target women who play a prominent role in political processes,” it alleged.
The report highlighted that activists in Serbia were targeted with spyware, and that journalists continue to face strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs.
Freedom House said that in general, freedoms on the net have been curbed around the world.
“A rapid series of consequential elections have reshaped the global information environment over the past year. Technical censorship curbed many opposition parties’ ability to reach supporters and suppressed access to independent reporting about the electoral process. False claims of voter fraud and a rise in harassment of election administrators threatened public confidence in the integrity of balloting procedures,” the report said.
Voters in at least 25 of 41 countries covered by the Freedom House report that held or prepared for nationwide elections during the coverage period contended with a censored information space, it added.