Will the “disinformation law” passed by ruling bloc in Turkey’s parliament serve the target?

The law called “Disinformation Law” (otherwise called censorship law by opposition) has been adopted by the parliament, due to majority vote of ruling bloc (AK Party and MHP) despite resistance from the opposition parties.

This is “REAL” serious now and it gives unbelievable authority to several official/legal bodies controlled by ruling bloc (and the President goes without saying) and not only journalists but anybody could be put behind the bars for having published news or shared a tweet (or even having endorsed it) criticizing the government (or the president certainly) on grounds of sharing incorrect (or fake, as also referred) information targeting to harm the benefits of the country, trying to cause confusion/ disorder or having insulted the president etc.

Many people have an idea about why the administration has made and passed this law that hastily as election approaches. The main stream media is under full (almost) control of the administration except for a few other TV channels such as HALK TV and TELE 1, KRT and FOX TV as well as printed media such as SOZCU, CUMHURIYET, BIRGUN newspapers etc. not to forget many opinion leaders or experts and journalists running channels on Youtube. Still, the administration seems to be very much disturbed about criticism and news targeting the performance and bodies of the government, as election approaches and many opinion leaders claim this is without any doubt the reason why said law was adopted in the parliament.

WILL IT SERVE THE PURPOSE?

But, the question is “will it serve the purpose”. We will live through to see if it will, but as it looks currently  the parties the government targets to silence do not seem to have such an intention – in which case this “not very positive attempt” could backfire to bring disappointment for the government, as evaluated by several opinion leaders. Nevertheless, there is no question everybody and all parties will have to be more careful regarding the issue (which really means auto-censorship).

And at the end of the day, it is a pity that the administration does not seem to have taken into consideration this step might not be a cure to its past performance note, to ensure another 4 years in power – as expressed by opinion leaders.