Turkey passes controversial social media law to control content

Turkey passes controversial social media law to control content

/ Middle East

















Issued on: 29/07/2020 - 07:41

















Social Network applications including Facebook, Instagram, Slack, Snapchat, Twitter, Skype, Viber , Teamsnap and Messenger, are on display on a smartphone on March 21, 2018 in Washington DC. Eric BARADAT AFP/Archives











Turkey's parliament passed a law regulating social media on Wednesday, that critics said will increase censorship and help authorities silence dissent.











President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, which has a majority with an allied nationalist party, had backed the bill. The assembly began debating the new legislation on Tuesday, and its passage was announced by parliament on Twitter.

The law requires foreign social media sites to appoint Turkish-based representatives to address authorities' concerns over content and includes deadlines for removal of material they take exception to.

Companies could face fines, the blocking of advertisements or have bandwidth slashed by up to 90%, essentially blocking access, under the new regulations.

As a majority of Turkey's mainstream media has come under government control over the past decade, Turks have taken to social media and smaller online news outlets for critical voices