TURKEY TURNS UP THE HEAT
The government of Turkish President Recep Erdogan is tightening Turkey's already-extensive restrictions on free speech still further. Ebubekir Sahin, the head of Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), recently announced a new requirement that journalists on popular video platform YouTube will henceforth need to obtain a broadcast license. The regulation falls under legislation issued in 2019 which "authorized RTUK to request broadcast licenses from 'media service providers,'" according to VOA. The law in question has already impacted access to websites of such outlets as VOA's Turkish Service and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, both of which have been blocked in Turkey for failing to obtain licenses.
Observers believe the move is far more than procedural. YouTube ranks as the most popular social media platform for accessing or sharing news globally, and the RTUK's new regulations follow a broader pattern of tightening control over the Turkish media environment. That pattern has already prompted some journalists to seek out alternative broadcasting platforms in the face of mounting governmental restrictions. (VOA News, September 9, 2024)
RUSSIA BLOCKS YOUTUBE, FINALLY
Turkey, moreover, is not the only authoritarian government to take aim at YouTube. While the video streaming platform has largely escaped censure from Russian authorities so far, this summer the country's official telecoms operator, ROSTELECOM, warned publicly that YouTube users would begin to experience video quality issues and slower streaming speeds in what many saw as a prelude to a complete ban. That closure has now taken place. Russian authorities are at long last preventing access to YouTube for citizens as part of a broader push to nudge Russians away from foreign-based social media and toward locally controlled ones, such as homegrown YouTube alternative RuTube.
The implications are ominous. Experts assess that Russia is moving toward an Iran-like internet censorship model, complete with "intentional" Internet disruptions, blacklisted IP addresses, and escalating restrictions on media freedom. (Washington Post, September 8, 2024)
HAMAS WEAPONIZES WAR MESSAGING...
In its current conflict with Israel, terror group Hamas has harnessed a "sophisticated media presence and uniform narrative to rally its base — and turn the world against Israel," the Times of Israel reports. This campaign has entailed, among other things, the dissemination of posters depicting bus bombings reminiscent of those thar ravaged Israel in the 1990s on social media. Hamas' focus on messaging, experts say, is not new; the group has "recognized the power of public relations" since its founding in the late 1980s, and has enshrined the use of propaganda in its charter. Today, that strategy involves "a strong online presence across multiple platforms," the paper notes.
Thus, Hamas' official website, Hamas.info, is accompanied by a parallel platform, Palinfo.com, which "is available in multiple languages — English, Arabic, French, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Farsi, and Malaysian — targeting a potential audience of hundreds of millions across the Muslim world." "Hamas also operates several Arabic-only news websites," the Times continues, "including Felasteen.news, Shehabnews.com, Safa.ps, and Alresalah.ps. Many of these outlets are active on social media platforms like X and Telegram." It also benefits from access to Al Jazeera, the Qatari Arabic-language media powerhouse, which has provided a ready platform for the group's messaging and media content. (Times of Israel, August 26, 2024)
...AND MANIPULATES PALESTINIAN PUBLIC OPINION
One of the most vexing questions surrounding the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been the one surrounding Palestinian sentiment – namely, whether Palestinians continue to support Hamas, despite the violence visited upon them as a result of the terror group's actions. A March poll by the Palestinian Authority's premier survey study group, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) painted a distressing picture of Palestinian attitudes, with 64 percent of West Bankers saying that Hamas should remain in control of Gaza, and 52 percent of people in the Strip believing the same thing.
But those results, it turns out, are at least in part a sophisticated effort on the part of Hamas to shape perceptions surrounding the conflict. A recent military raid in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces reportedly yielded captured documents from the terror group highlighting how it had "falsified the results of the poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research to indicate greater support for the Oct. 7 attacks in Palestinian society," the Jewish Insider reports. Specifically, the IDF has said, "these documents are part of a systematic process, the purpose of which is to disguise the collapse of the organization and the collapse of public support for it."
The episode, experts say, is proof of the centrality of perceptions and attitudes to the course of the current conflict. "[O]ne of Hamas' ambitions is to position itself as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Consequently, it would be in their interest to manipulate data that portrays them as the most favored organization to lead this representation," notes Joe Truzman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "The potential impact of such manipulation on the political landscape... is significant and should not be underestimated." (Jewish Insider, September 4, 2024)
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