Constitutional Court rules against 'arbitrary' blocking of news article

The Constitutional Court has declared that the blocking of the article titled "Response from the Police Station: We're Just Testing 'Mortars'" published on October 15, 2019, on artigercek.com amounted to a violation of 'freedom of expression and press.'

One of the member judges, Muhterem İnce, expressed dissent by casting a dissenting vote. The Constitutional Court stated that the violation was rooted in the law and emphasized arbitrariness while ruling that the issue should be reported to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). Additionally, the Court rejected the newspaper's compensation request.

The article in question, published by artigercek.com, highlighted the evacuation of two rural neighborhoods on the Turkish-Syrian border in Mardin's Nusaybin due to Turkey's military operations in Northern and Eastern Syria. It also reported that residents in other border neighborhoods were experiencing anxiety due to the firing of mortar shells.

Residents of the Yolbilen (Erbete) neighborhood, which was not evacuated, reportedly sought clarification from the police station, asking, "Why are so many mortar shells being fired?" In response, the authorities at the police station explained, "We are testing them, just for practice. They pose no threat to your safety."

Following this, the Ministry of Interior, General Directorate of Security, on October 16, 2019, applied to the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) to block access to 46 URLs, including the aforementioned article. They claimed that the news constituted black propaganda against the organization and alleged that the articles were published "to unjustly depict and tarnish the reputation of Turkey's political and military decisions and practices."

The BTK accepted the request on the same day, citing Article 8/A of Law No. 5651, and issued an administrative measure against 46 content items. The 5th Penal Judgeship of Peace in Ankara also approved the decision to block access.

When artigercek.com's objections went unanswered, they turned to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court concluded that freedom of expression and the press had indeed been violated. (HA/VK)