ANKARA - The Turkish parliament has passed the "censorship bill” seeking up to three years in jail for those spreading so-called "disinformation" on the internet.

 

The Turkish parliament on late Oct. 13 passed the bill that criminalizes so-called “disinformation” spread online, which the opposition deemed as “censorship law.”

 

Presented by the ruling coalition of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), one of the most controversial articles of the bill is Article 29 which talks about the “struggle against disinformation."

 

The controversial article 29 of the bill, which envisages imprisonment, was accepted with the votes of AKP and MHP.

 

“If a person spreads false information with regards to the country's domestic and external security, public order and general health in a way that that is suitable to disrupt the public peace, with the purpose of creating concern, fear or panic among the people, they will be sentenced to between one and three years,” the relevant article reads.

 

Online news outlets will be required to remove “false” content, and the government may block access to their websites more easily.