 | |
| Founded | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Type | news agency |
| Legal status | Active |
Official language | Turkish,English,Kurdish[1] |
| Website | www |
Bianet (acronym forTurkish:Bağımsız İletişim Ağı,lit. '"Independent Communication Network"') is an Independent[2]news agency based inBeyoğlu,Istanbul.[3] Focused onhuman rights in Turkey it is mainly funded by a Swedish organization.[4] Bianet was established in January 2000 by journalists aroundNadire Mater [tr], former representative ofReporters Without Borders, and left-wing activistErtuğrul Kürkçü[5] and is tied withInter Press Service. It is mostly funded by theEuropean Commission through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).[5]Erol Önderoğlu served as the monitoring editor for Bianet for several years. His work for Bianet included quarterly reports onfree speech in Turkey.[6] A 2022 study said that it partly followed the principles ofcitizen journalism.[7] It is active onsocial media.[8]
In collaboration with EIDHR andKAOS GL, an association that focuses onLGBT rights in Turkey, Bianet organized workshops between 2016 and 2018 in various cities concerninggender specific language in themass media in Turkey.[9]
Access to the Bianet website was brieflyblocked in Turkey on 16 July 2019, after it was included on a list of 136 websites and social media accounts that were deemed a threat to national security. The block was lifted the following day, after protests, and the authorities said that Bianet had been blocked by mistake.[10]