Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced today that all social media accounts will require Turkish identification number log-ins, and fake or anonymous accounts will be banned following a three-month transition period. Platforms have agreed to implement these terms, according to the minister.
The new regulations will be part of an upcoming judicial package. Social media user identities will be revealed and users will be “responsible for posts, insults and character assassinations,” said the minister.
The government has been working on the regulation in recent months, along with a measure to ban social media for children under 16.
Accounts that do not comply with these new rules will be closed during the three-month transition period. Gürlek said that they expect it to pass quickly once the regulation is submitted to Parliament.
“If someone creates an account on social media and commits a crime, there must be consequences. That's what we want. We want social media to have its own laws and rules. If someone creates an account, they must bear the responsibility,” Gürlek said in a statement.
“Trials are being conducted, decisions are being made, and judgments are being passed on social media. That's not the reality. If someone insults someone or carries out a character assassination on social media, they must bear the consequences.” (İK/VK)
