IPI has written to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to raise urgent concerns about the devastating impact of Google’s algorithmic updates on Turkey’s independent media landscape.
Dear Mr. Pichai,
The International Press Institute (IPI) is writing to express our profound concern regarding the negative impact of recent Google Search and Discover algorithmic changes on Turkey’s independent media ecosystem.
Google publicly commits to protect and respect human rights, including freedom of expression and access to information, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and publicly commits to supporting high quality journalism and free flow of information. However, the reality for independent newsrooms in Turkey suggests these commitments are not being observed in practice. Between August 2024 and March 2025, a series of Core Updates has effectively dismantled the digital reach of the country’s few remaining independent outlets, threatening their economic viability and, by extension, democratic pluralism in Turkey.
The “algorithmic shock”, as widely referred to in Turkey, of the August 2024, November 2024, and March 2025 updates has resulted in unprecedented traffic losses for independent outlets, ranging from 60% to 80% in Google News and Discover. The sudden loss of visibility triggered institutional crises for a number of outlets, the most alarming consequence of which was the closure of Gazete Duvar.
Furthermore, our analysis and in-depth expert interviews, as well as the Press Freedom 2025 Mission report, indicate that Google’s current algorithms are failing the Turkish public through two distinct systemic flaws:
- Rewarding plagiarism over original reporting: Google’s systems are currently incentivizing a “copy-paste” economy. We have documented cases, the most notable involving Halk TV, where original investigative reports are suppressed while SEO-driven clickbait sites that aggregate or steal the very same content are rewarded with top rankings.
- Disproportionate impact on independent versus state-aligned media: Available data and expert analysis raise serious questions about whether Google’s news curation is producing a skewed outcome, with visibility concentrated among a small group of pro-government outlets.
Through these mechanisms, Google is supporting the government’s effort to weaken independent media, and is undermining the rights of Turkish citizens to access independent information.
What is particularly concerning is the timing of these disruptions, aligning with intensified debates on Turkey’s proposed Digital Copyright Law. This has sparked credible fears in the Turkish media community that independent outlets’ visibility may be diminished to preempt potential licensing costs. Acknowledging Google’s broader initiatives, including post-update traffic recoveries for various sites via webmaster tools, we request evidence to confirm no intentional linkage exists.
In light of the concerns above we call on Google to take the following actions:
- Google should commit to sharing raw traffic and ranking data for Turkish news outlets (parallel to the ongoing European Commission investigation into site reputation abuse) to determine whether independent outlets are being systematically suppressed while pro-government or clickbait sites are prioritized.
- Google should conduct and publish an independent risk assessment of the differential impact of its August 2024 – March 2025 updates on Turkish media, with specific attention to the disparity between independent and state-aligned outlets.
- Google should ensure that independent media outlets are not excluded from copyright licensing negotiations and agreements, correcting for a landscape that has thus far disproportionately favored state-aligned media with greater reach and resources.
Additionally, in the interest of the public good and the preservation of media pluralism, we request that Google provide clear and substantive answers to the following questions:
- Is the timing of these severe traffic losses purely coincidental? Given that these declines align perfectly with the intensification of Digital Copyright Law debates in Turkey, can Google provide evidence that this is not actively contributing to the restructuring of the media ecosystem to reduce future licensing obligations?
- What due diligence policies and practices are in place to algorithms do not act as a filter that disproportionately suppresses independent voices?
- Does Google conduct risk assessments to ensure that its algorithms do not prioritize aggregated content over original reporting, or deprioritize primary investigative reporting while rewarding copy-paste productions?
- Is Google willing to share raw data sets with independent media organizations in Turkey to clarify which outlets are being prioritized and whether shadow banning practices are being applied to specific domains?
IPI requests a formal and substantive response from Google addressing each of the concerns raised in this letter. We expect Google to outline concrete steps toward greater algorithmic transparency in Turkey. As an organization committed to documenting threats to press freedom globally, IPI will continue to monitor and publicly report on the impact of platform algorithms on independent media, and will treat Google’s engagement, or lack thereof, as part of that record.
Sincerely,
International Press Institute (IPI)
This statement was produced by IPI as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and candidate countries, funded by the European Commission.
