Parliamentary Justice Commission passes social media bill

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Prepared by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Group Deputy Chair Özlem Zengin and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Group Deputy Chairs Erkan Akçay and Muhammed Levent Bülbül, the social media bill passed the Parliamentary Justice Commission yesterday (July 23).

CLICK - Turkey's new social media bill aimed at 'silencing dissenting voices and making money'

The bill introduces a new definition of "social media provider" to the Law on Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by Means of Such Publications.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), the bill is poised to set a formal definition of social media providers with the aim of designating a responsible representative for investigations and legal proceedings relating to the offenses committed on social media platforms.

The bill defines real or legal entities, who allow users to create, monitor or share online contents such as text, visual, voice and location for social interaction, as social network providers.

Accordingly, if the bill is passed into law after being debated and taken to vote at the General Assembly of the Parliament, foreign-based social network providers that have more than 1 million daily visitors in Turkey will assign at least one representative in the country.

This person's contact information will be included in the website in a way that is obvious and easy to access. If the representative of a provider will be a real entity, not a legal one, it will have to be a citizen of Turkey.

Social network providers will also have 48 hours to respond to the orders to remove the content found to be offensive. Providers will also take necessary measures to store data on users in Turkey inside the country.

Administrative fines for providers who fail to meet obligations will also be raised "to encourage compliance." While fines were previously between 10,000 -100,000 TRY (~1,500 - 15,000 USD), the amount will now be between 1 million - 10 million lira (~146,165 -1,461,650 USD).

'We will strike a balance,' said the AKP

In introducing the bill to the public on July 21, AKP Group Deputy Chair Özlem Zengin previously said, "We define 'social media providers' in the law. We want these providers to establish a center in Turkey. We will make an arrangement that enables investigation and prosecution."

"Our first priority is never the closure of social media providers. We are aware of their place in our lives. We are aware of how much they are used," she argued, adding that what they aimed with the bill was to strike a balance between freedoms, rights and law. "We aim to end insults, bad language and harassment on social media," she indicated further.

"If a person thinks there is a violation regarding their personal rights, they would be able to apply to the representative, which would have to respond within 48 hours," Zengin stated. Social media providers can be fined up to 5 million lira (~730,000 USD) in case of a violation of personal rights. (TP/SD)