Foreign Desk Report
ANKARA: Turkey adopted a new social media law on Wednesday that critics say will create a “chilling effect” on dissenting voices who have resorted to Twitter and other online platforms as the government tightened its grip on mainstream media.
The law was backed by President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party and its nationalist allies to make foreign social media sites more accountable. It requires them to appoint a local representative to address authorities’ concerns. The law would allow Turkish authorities to remove content from platforms rather than blocking access as they have done in the past.
Companies including Facebook and YouTube that do not comply could have their bandwidth slashed by up to 90%, essentially blocking access, and face other penalties. They must also store local users’ information in Turkey, raising concerns that a state that critics say has grown more authoritarian under Erdogan will gain easy access. An estimated 90% of major media in Turkey comes under the ownership of the state or is close to the govt. Turks are already heavily policed on social media and the new regulations, especially if user data is vulnerable, will have a “chilling effect”, said Yaman Akdeniz, cyber rights expert and professor at Istanbul Bilgi University.
