Thursday

30th Nov 2023

Turkey's new social media bill under immediate fire

  • In Turkey last year, 408,494 websites and some 7,000 Twitter accounts, 40,000 tweets, 10,000 YouTube videos and 6,200 Facebook posts were legally blocked by the state (Photo: Kyra Preston)

Turkey's parliament passed early on Wednesday (29 July) a bill regulating social media which aims to further strengthen state control of online platforms and users' data in the country.

Leading human rights groups voiced immediate concerns about the "far-reaching" amendments to the law in Turkey, backed by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK party and its allied nationalist party MHP.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The new bill demands foreign social media companies with more than a million users in Turkey store their users' data in the country, and open an office in the country staffed by at least one representative able to address complaints from state authorities.

To do so, a new definition of "social media provider" will be introduced, with a clear representative responsible for investigations and legal proceedings.

Additionally, social networks will be forced to remove content found to be offensive by Turkish authorities within 48 hours.

However, the bill also introduces a series of court-ordered penalties "to encourage compliance" with the new rules - including fines up to €50m, blocking advertising, or having bandwidth slashed by Turkish internet providers, essentially blocking access.

"Our first priority is never the closure of social media providers. We aim to end insults, bad language and harassment on social media," said AKP legislator chair Özlem Zengin last week, adding that the bill aims to balance freedoms with obligations.

The MHP, meanwhile, on Monday (27 July) called for the new bill to also include a ban on virtual private networks (VPNs) as they are commonly used in Turkey to avoid existing restrictions.

'Powerful state tool'

Human rights groups said that, if adopted, the new legislation might further undermine freedom of expression and weaken independent journalism in the country.

"It is essential for everyone who values and champions free speech to recognise how damaging these new restrictions will be in a country where autocracy is being constructed by silencing media and all critical voices," said on Monday Tom Porteous from NGO Human Rights Watch.

"Social media companies should loudly and unequivocally call on Turkey to drop this law, and the EU should resolutely back this call," he added.

According to a spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights, the draft law "would give the state powerful tools for asserting even more control over the media landscape".

Meanwhile, Amnesty International urged Turkish authorities to bin the bill and implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, which found Turkey in violation of the right to freedom of expression - when the country blocked Wikipedia in 2017.

The new bill appears to be the latest step in Turkey's long list of social media and internet restrictions inside the country.

A report published earlier this year by the Istanbul-based Freedom of Expression Association indicates that 408,494 websites, and some 7,000 Twitter accounts, 40,000 tweets, 10,000 YouTube videos and 6,200 Facebook posts were already, legally, blocked in the country only last year.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that the new bill is "a blatant attempt" to make international companies responsible for censoring on behalf of Turkish authorities.

"For years, social media posts have been used to prosecute Turkish journalists, and the proposed measures would put them even more at risk for sharing information with the public," said Gulnoza Said from the CPJ in a statement.

Turkey is ranked 154 out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Turkey to fine social media giants under new law

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube and TikTok were fined by Turkish authoirties for failing to appoint a representative able to address complaints, as required by a new law.

Opinion

Turkey's smart game: keeping the EU divided

After a little over a year in Brussels as an MEP, and closely following the EU's foreign affairs, it astonishes me how ineffective the European Union leverages its power on the world stage.

Opinion

The EU's 'no added sugars' fruit-juice label sleight-of-hand

The Food Information to Consumers package would have finally regulated the health or nutrition claims companies make on their products, claims like "heart-healthy" "30-percent less fat" or "no added sugar". Legislation on these claims is now 15 years overdue.

Column

How centre-right conservatives capitulate to the far-right

Many conservatives in Europe seem to have forgotten the lesson of 1930s Germany. They sacrifice their principles on the altar of the polls and all-too-often try to overtake rightwing radicals on their own pet subjects like security or migration.

Latest News

  1. EU offers Turkey upgrade, as Sweden nears Nato entry
  2. Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog
  3. Finland's closure of Russia border likely violates asylum law
  4. The EU's 'no added sugars' fruit-juice label sleight-of-hand
  5. EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
  6. Member states stall on EU ban on forced-labour products
  7. EU calls for increased fuel supplies into Gaza
  8. People-smuggling profits at historic high, EU concedes

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  2. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  4. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  5. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  2. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  4. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  5. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  6. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us