Turkish lawmakers to debate controversial social media bill
With a vote expected this week, the Turkish Parliament is set to begin deliberations over a bill that would compel social media platforms and news websites to open offices in Turkey and even remove content upon government request.
ISTANBUL — Turkish lawmakers prepared to debate a controversial social media bill Tuesday that free speech advocates said would lead to increased censorship and the removal of online content, furthering restrictions on freedom of information in the country.
Despite pushback from opposition groups and international rights organizations, the bill is expected to pass through a parliamentary majority held by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the National Movement Party (MHP) before the body’s summer recess begins Friday.
A draft of the proposal would require social media platforms with more than one million domestic daily users, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to open offices in Turkey and appoint local representatives to implement government requests to block and remove content or face steep fines along with possible access cuts if they fail to comply.
“This is an attempt to expand the censorship regime into social media, which is one of the last free spaces” in Turkey, Scott Griffen, deputy director at the International Press Institute, told Al-Monitor. “I would describe it as blackmail of social media platforms.”
