Turkey among the worst countries in global freedom of expression ranking
Out of 49 countries in Europe and Central Asia, Turkey ranked 46th in freedom of expression in a Global Expression Report 2022.
Listed in bottom five, Turkey only performed better than Turkmenistan, Belarus and Tajikistan in the report, published in June by Article 19, an organization promoting freedom of expression.
In overall list of 161 countries around the world, it ranked 141st, placed under ‘in crisis’ category.
Freedom of expression in the world is under attack, continuing its steady downwards shift, according to the report, penned by journalist Emily Hart and statistician Nicole Steward-Streng.
Eighty percent of the global population is living with less freedom of expression than they had a decade ago, according to the report.
“Freedom of expression is the first right authoritarian leaders attack as they move to undermine democracy. Autocrats, populists and dictators know that the defining battle for power is a battle to control the narrative,” it said.
Turkey, where 41 journalists were imprisoned at the end of 2021, continues to wield "insulting the President" laws to detain communicators, according to the report.
The entire top 10 composing of European countries, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Estonia ranked in top five among the list, where Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Cuba and China ranked in bottom five.
