Turkey’s opposition seeks stay of ‘disinformation’ law

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s main opposition party is seeking the suspension of the enforcement of a newly-approved media law that mandates prison terms for disinformation. Parliament approved the legislation that amends media laws with the aim of combating fake news last week. Critics fear that the measure will be used to further crack down on social media and independent reporting as the country heads toward elections. The law came into effect earlier on Tuesday. The main opposition party applied to the Constitutional Court seeking the suspension of the implementation of the legislation’s most contentious article. It will seek an annulment of the entire legislation at a later date. The ruling party denies that the legislation aims to silence critics.