Turkish authorities arrested at least 29 journalists in 2025, according to the BIA Media Monitoring Reports, a series tracking press freedom violations that found courts, police and regulators were increasingly used to pressure critical reporting.
The reports, published by the Bianet’s news outlet’s media freedom program, document arrests, prosecutions, broadcast fines and online censorship affecting journalists and media outlets across Turkey. Media rights groups say the measures reflect a sustained pattern of legal and economic pressure on independent journalism.
In addition to the journalists jailed, 58 journalists were detained or taken in for questioning in 2025, the report said. Three others were put under house arrest for months, while dozens more were subjected to judicial supervision that restricted travel or required regular reporting to authorities. Many of those affected were covering protests, court proceedings or allegations of government wrongdoing.
Journalists were prosecuted under a range of laws, including counterterrorism legislation and provisions of the penal code used to criminalize insults of the president. In several cases reporters faced accusations such as espionage or threatening the president.
The report documents the continued use of Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, which makes insulting the president a criminal offense. Despite a 2021 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that found the provision violated freedom of expression, Turkish courts continued to apply it in 2025. Two journalists were convicted under the article during the year, the report said.
Since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power more than a two decades ago, some 80 journalists have been sentenced to prison or fined under the insult law, according to the report.
Courts also handed down prison sentences under the penal code and the counterterrorism law in other cases. In total, 28 journalists were convicted in 2025, receiving cumulative sentences exceeding 45 years in prison, along with judicial fines. Forty-one journalists and cartoonists were acquitted, often after long trials that media advocates said appeared arbitrary.
Regulatory pressure on broadcasters intensified along with court cases. Turkey’s broadcasting regulator, RTÜK, imposed 32.8 million Turkish lira ($7.5 million) in fines on television stations over news coverage and political commentary in 2025, according to the report. Several broadcasters critical of the government were brought close to license cancellation, a threshold that can force stations off the air. The report said that 52 sanctions were imposed on TV stations critical of the government in 2025.
The report also documented widespread online censorship. Courts ordered the blocking of at least 81 news reports during the year, most often citing national security or public order. Authorities also restricted access to journalists’ social media accounts, including accounts operated from abroad, and temporarily reduced internet bandwidth during protests, limiting access to news and social platforms.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of journalists in several cases, finding violations of freedom of expression and ordering the state to pay compensation totaling nearly 386,000 lira ($90,000). Media groups said the rulings did little to prevent new arrests or prosecutions in other cases.
Physical attacks and threats against journalists were also recorded. At least 28 journalists and two media outlets were attacked in 2025, the report said, while 10 media workers faced threats or harassment online or in public. Press organizations warned that the lack of accountability for such attacks contributes to a climate of intimidation.
Media rights groups say the cumulative effect of arrests, prosecutions, regulatory fines and censorship orders has left independent journalism increasingly fragile in Turkey, particularly as news organizations struggle with declining revenue and legal uncertainty.
Turkey was ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, placing it among the lowest-rated countries globally for media freedom.
