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Turkey has banned social media sites that have failed to hire local representatives from advertising, according to the Official Gazette.
Last October, a new social media law came into effect in the country which obligates social media sites that are accessed over a million times per day in Turkey to hire a local representative.
Freedom of expression groups have expressed concern that the law may facilitate arbitrary censorship and called on social media companies to refuse to abide by it.
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As part of the law, Turkey has fined social media platforms 40 million Turkish lira (5.43 million USD) so far under the first two phases of the process.
After the fines, advertisement activities are banned, and in the last two phases, the country will limit bandwidth by 50 percent and up to 90 percent, respectively.
If the social media firms appoint local representatives, 75 percent of the fine will be waived and the bandwidth reduction will end.
The Official Gazette said advertisements from Turkey cannot be posted on Pinterest, Twitter and Periscope as of today (January 19).
If enterprises that are active in Turkey breach the ban, they will face a number of charges.
Yesterday, Facebook announced that it would start the process for opening an office in Turkey, one day before the start of the ad ban.
LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, VK and DailyMotion previously agreed to appoint local representatives so far.
"Digital fascism"
Turkey's Deputy Transport and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan tweeted that the advertisement ban will be controlled by authorities such as the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, Central Bank and Tax Inspection Board.
Turkey does not want to bar citizens from any services, but the country is committed to taking every measure for protecting its data, privacy and rights, Sayan said.
"We will never allow digital fascism and anarchism to dominate in Turkey," he added. "We hope that Twitter and Pinterest, which have still not notified us of their representative, take the necessary steps immediately," he noted.
The social media lawAccording to the social media law that came into effect in Turkey as of October 1, 2020, social media platforms and companies that have more than one million daily visits such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Periscope, Linkedin, Dailymotion and TikTok have to appoint a legal representative in Turkey. After the first 30-day period to appoint their representatives, authorities fined social media platforms 10 million Turkish liras (~1.2 million dollars) in November After the second 30-day term, the penalty rose to 30 million Turkish liras. If companies still do not comply with the requirement by 90 days, Turkish advertisers will be banned from their sites. Three months after the advertising ban, authorities will be able to reduce the internet bandwidth of these platforms by 50 percent first and then 90 percent after another month of non-compliance. If the social media giants appoint local representatives, 75 percent of the fine will be waived and their bandwidth restored. As part of the law, social media firms are obliged to answer requests from Turkey in Turkish. They must respond to requests on personal and privacy rights within 48 hours. The representative to be appointed by the companies should be a citizen of Turkey or a legal entity based in Turkey. The platforms are also required to publish semi-annual reports for showing request statistics on personal and privacy rights. Social networks that do not remove illegal content within 24 hours despite a court verdict will be held responsible. In addition, social media companies should take necessary measures to host Turkey-based users' data in Turkey. |
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