Turkey: New Social Media Law Is A Threat To Not Only Freedom Of Expression But Also Human Rights Advocacy
Location: Turkey, Ankara
Date: July 30, 2020Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
“The Proposal for the Amendment of the Law on the Arrangement of Internet Publication and Combating Crimes Committed Through These Publications’’ was passed by the Justice Committee and enacted by Turkish Grand National Assembly last Wednesday.
As The Coalition For Women In Journalism, we are utterly concerned about this new law, which has been cited in many circles as the "new censorship law.". Law No. 7253 will not only hinder freedom of expression, but will also impede with the work in the field of human rights advocacy.
What does the new law bring?
Following the speech of President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan concerning social media, which stated “We must do whatever is necessary for these mediums to establish legal and financial interlocutors.”, the draft proposal was submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly immediately.
The text of the law imposes many restrictions on social media servers, while envisioning the increase of fines for offenses committed through social media. There is also the definition of “social networking provider” which includes Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which are the mediums that rights advocates campaign through, as well as WhatsApp, a free communication tool.
Foreign-based social network providers that have more than one million daily visitors in Turkey will assign at least one representative in the country. That person's contact information will be included on the website in a way that is obvious and easy to access. If the representative will be a real entity, not a legal one, it has to be a citizen of Turkey. The representative is also tasked with “taking reasonable measures to abide by the rules and regulations provided under this law”. However, what these measures will be is not clearly stated in the law, and no sanctions are foreseen in cases of noncompliance.
Additionally, social network providers would have 48 hours to respond to orders to remove offensive content. 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 would be raised to encourage compliance. Previously, fines were between 10,000 -100,000 Turkish lira ($1,500 - $15,000), but the amount would now be between 1 million - 10 million lira ($146,165 - $1,461,650).
As part of the right to be forgotten, courts are now authorized to not only block access to a URL address, but also remove its content. (source: https://bianet.org/5/94/228211-parliament-passes-bill-obligating-social-media-companies-to-open-an-office-in-turkey)
Social media companies should take initiative to stand against silencing of freedom of expression
Kerem Altıparmak, Executive Board Member of Human Rights Association and human rights lawyer, during his interview with The Coalition For Women In Journalism drew attention to the gaps in the law: “The text of the law is hastily written and has many deficits. I think that 90% of the articles under the law, in this form are not enforceable, but in this case the stance of the social media networks will play an important role. If these channels act with bravery, the penalties stipulated by the law in terms of neither localization nor content deletion will be enforced. For example, if social media companies that comply with the obligation to have a representative are notified of an administrative penalty due to violation of the law, the penalty will remain obsolete if the company does not have any confiscable property.”
Despite all the gaps in the law, this regulation, which envisages further pressure on freedom of expression, may cause destruction in the field of rights advocacy. According to Article 8 (a) of the said law, any criticism of political power can be considered as a threat to public order. In this case, if social media networks succumb to the authorities wishes and list the names and locations of their users that the government see as ‘criminals’, it will help hinder the already chained freedom of expression in Turkey to be thrown into jail. This will create a chilling effect where we will see jailings of dozens of people each night.
Social media bill will make women journalists’ lives harder in Turkey
Ayşe Güney, co-spokesperson for the Mesopotamian Women Journalists Platform and editor of JinNews, touched upon the negative consequences of the new regulation might have in terms of women's rights during the interview she gave to The Coalition For Women In Journalism: “The freedom of expression will be completely eliminated and the right to receive news will be seriously affected. Social media, which is also used as a means of discussion and communication, has become a tool to organize, campaign and share experiences for women in the recent years. These platforms help raped and assaulted women reach millions of people to support them. This restriction also aims to isolate the individual. ”
Ayşe also said that stricter laws will intensify self censorship and will increase the pressure on journalists in Turkey: "Turkey has long been a country of censorship. Many press institutions were shut down. The opposition media faced many penalties, tens of thousands of people have been arrested due to social media posts and their trials are ongoing.
While we are facing such dark days in terms of freedom of the press and expression, now this new social media legislation will completely darken the picture. If a firm step towards democracy is not taken to repeal this law Turkey will become a country where especially women journalists simply can’t exist and breathe.”
“History will be rewritten and the hunter will be the author”
Mesopotamia Agency Foreign News Editor Gözde Çağrı Özköse commented that the regulation will also irreversibly damage the history: “Social media 'regulation' was just enacted by the Parliament. But I'm sure more than 70% of the people in Turkey do not know about this. This is due to the fact that our media has already been taken over. This law targets the remaining 30% by way of requesting their information from social media providers when they share anything that the government deems as a ‘crime’, and we all know that that list is endless. The state, which receives the user information, will include the user in its "Citizen Tracking System" and instant virtual cops will start stalking said citizens on social media. Access to links the government deems as ‘dangerous’ will not only be blocked due to violation of rights, content will also be removed. Censorship will intensify, and all news and posts with critical content will be deleted. In other words, the law aims to censor not only the present but also the history.
Journalism is already considered a crime in Turkey and the last remaining mediums to communicate, to access information and the right to organize are social media platforms. With this law, all kinds of good and bad memories of the past will be erased and destroyed. History will be rewritten. An African proverb says, 'Unless lions write their own history, all stories will glorify the hunter'. This law is the law of the hunter. ”
Opposition should work on archiving important information before they are gone forever
YolTV anchor and co-editor in chief of Gazetelink Derya Havin Güngör, on the other hand, invited the public and journalists to focus on archiving critical posts that may get censored in the future: “The social media law, which is claimed to have taken after Germany’s example, passed through the Parliament after an overnight 'work'. This alone shows that this law is not drafted in good faith. The law that Germany enacted came after 2 years of comprehensive work.
The purpose of the AKP government and mentality, and their road map, are now obvious. AKP takes revenge of dislikes on youtube by generation Z and of the opposition’s social media slogan "everything will be very beautiful". This law is aimed at harming the opposition during the next election campaign because the opposition gained popularity due to social media during the last one. It was social media posts of the opposition that determined the agenda during the last election process. They gave hope and excitement to the public. The ruling party was only able to imitate the opposition. They became afraid of social media in return. AKP can no longer manage neither the country nor the Internet; they are far behind the era. They also want to erase any documentation of corruption exposed on social media.
So it is very important to hand these archives down to the next generation. We knew that the opposition party could not prevent the government from passing this law. I find it much more important to spend time and energy on these archives instead of trying to prevent the passing of the law.”
The Coalition For Women In Journalism, is following the current censorship attempts in Turkey with great concern. We call all political actors and the public to look out for democracy and fundamental rights in Turkey. Terrible consequences of this new law will not be seen before two years at the earliest as Kerem Altıparmak mentioned. However, we call on social media networks to stand in solidarity against regulations which violate freedom of expression and the right to demand information.
...
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ. Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.