New Turkish law criminals “false” reporting on cybersecurity dates

March 13, 2025 – Due to its excessive and vague language, the new law of Turkey could criminalize the legitimate reporting on cyber security incidents, the committee to protect journalists on Thursday.

The law adopted on Wednesday criminalizes reporting on an online data leak or sharing this report, unless the authorities have confirmed the incident.

It imposes a prison sentence of two to five years for anyone who knowingly creates or spreads “false” content that claims that there is a cyber security data “to create fear, fear and panic in public or to draw institutions or individuals”.

“The new law of Turkish cyber security could not only suppress the reporting on data leaks in connection with cyber security, but also enable the government to decide whether a leak actually occurs the risk of more comprehensive censorship,” said Özgür Öğret, representative of the Turkish representative of CPJ. “The Turkish authorities should revise the law to ensure that it does not threaten to undermine the freedom of the press.”

The law also specifies a new cyber security authority and cyber security commission, which has legal access to any digital information stored in Turkey if they are approved by a judicial order. An earlier draft of the law suggested that the newly founded bodies give this authority without a judicial order.

The adoption of the law follows an admission of the online authority of Türkiye BTK in September 2024 that the personal data was stolen by 108 million people by government servers.

The opposition parties of Türkiye are preparing to apply for a cancellation of the law at the constitutional court.

In 2022, Turkey passed a law that criminals “spreading disinformation”, which was continuously used against the media. The Turkish authorities arrested the reporter İbrahim Haskoloğlu in 2022 because he had reported a suspected data leak.

CPJ sent an e -mail to the presidential directorate for communication for a comment, but did not receive an answer.