The Right to be Online

In Turkey, a new disinformation law increases human rights risks for social media companies

On October 13, the Turkish Parliament passed new amendments to the country’s internet and press laws. These came into effect the same month and make “disseminating false information” a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison. They also require social media companies to set up formal entities within Turkish jurisdiction. Turkish authorities have promised that misinformation will not be considered a crime – however, there is currently no distinction between “misinformation” and “disinformation” (where there is intent to disseminate false information) in Turkish law. The Council of Europe has expressed concerns that the vague formulation of the amendments may lead to arbitrary arrests and judgments in courts.

Social media companies must also comply with content removal requests from the government and disclose user data if requested during judicial proceedings. Human Rights Watch and several local civil society organisations predict that the new amendments could encourage self-censorship on social media and contribute to an erosion of online freedom of speech ahead of the 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Immediate Risks

Social media companies with over one million users in Turkey have six months to establish formal entities in the country. Once they do, their operations will be under the jurisdiction of the government’s Information & Communications Technologies Authority. The Authority operates under the Turkish Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure and has repeatedly been criticized by Turkish media and civil society for its ties to the AKP government and lack of transparency.

The Turkish government is a leader in content removal requests, and social media posts are often used as evidence in court cases against political dissidents and activists. ARTICLE 19, an international organisation that advocates for freedom of expression, has warned that establishing local entities and fulfilling government requests “will force social media companies to be complicit with an almost total censorship regime”. On the other hand, not doing so could expose companies to six-month advertisement bans and a reduction of their bandwidth of up to 90%.

Following the new legislation, global social media companies are at a crossroads. Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), they have to respect human rights and mitigate potential human rights risks in their activities. The million-dollar question is: how will they align with international human rights standards and comply with the local legislation at the same time?

No Silver Bullet

The Erdogan administration has previously banned platforms such as Twitter and YouTube, with the most recent YouTube ban lasting over a year in 2014. In the shadow of such extreme measures, the new social media law shows sophistication: it creates loopholes, making companies play by the government’s rules while avoiding the public scrutiny that would come with outright bans. In 2020, some social media companies initially announced they would not comply with a law requesting them to appoint local representatives, but stepped back after being fined millions of dollars and threatened with an advertisement ban. This time around, challenging the law while continuing operations in Turkey appears to be a herculean task.

Human rights organisations have called on social media companies to withdraw from Turkey and to challenge the government’s crackdown on online freedoms – but this approach comes with its own problems. Social media platforms have become one of the most important activism venues for civil society groups in Turkey, especially for minority groups not represented in electoral politics. Istanbul Pride, for instance, is promoted mainly through social media platforms, and attracts thousands of participants each year despite government bans and police crackdowns. Losing these platforms would considerably hinder the public visibility of such groups, as well as their efforts to exercise their right to freedom of assembly.

Next Steps

According to the UNGPs, the severity of a human rights risk can be determined by assessing the gravity of its potential impact, the number of individuals impacted, and how easy it would be to restore the rights at risk. Social media companies operating in Turkey should undertake this exercise to identify and assess the various risks associated with the new legislation. The findings would help companies better understand what is at stake and how to prioritise mitigation measures. B-Tech, the United Nations Business and Human Rights in Technology Project, also provides suggestions on how technology companies can integrate human rights into their business models and grievance mechanisms. Companies can use the findings from their impact assessments to tailor B-Tech suggestions to their operations. This would ensure they follow sector-wide best practices on issues such as data disclosure and accessibility.

If adequately conducted and implemented, a human rights risk assessment can be a powerful tool to inform the strategy and approach of social media companies operating in Turkey while safeguarding the human rights of users.