Twitter has announced that it will establish a legal entity in Turkey to continue operating in the country, which recently passed a controversial social media law.?
The hotly debated Internet Law 5651, which came into effect late last year, requires social media firms that have more than 1 million users to store Turkish users¡¯ data in the country.?
The social media firm said in a statement that it has closely reviewed the law, but justified the decision as means to ¡°ensure that Twitter remains available for all who use it in Turkey.¡±
Under the law, which critics say stifles dissent, larger social media firms are liable for a series of penalties if they fail to designate an official representative in Turkey--they could face fines, advertising bans, and will ultimately have their bandwidth slashed, essentially blocking access.?
Platforms will also have to obey takedown orders that's reported as offensive by either individuals or the government within 48 hours.?
Facebook, TikTok and YouTube have already set up entities in Turkey.?
Earlier in January this year, Turkey slapped advertising bans on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest after they failed to appoint local representatives. Previously, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok have been fined 40 million lira each (roughly ?37 crore) in 2020 for not complying.
Turkey blocked access to Twitter across the country for a fortnight in 2014 following damaging allegations of corruption in PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan¡¯s inner circle; and again in 2016, after the arrests of 11 Kurdish-backed opposition leaders.
The thing with censorship in Turkey is that you either remove the content without raising any concern or you get the whole service blocked.?
Let¡¯s look at three facts that substantiate the above statement.?
Earlier this year on February 25, the Indian government notified new regulations governing the digital media industry to ensure greater compliance with local laws. The norms on social media came weeks after a spat between the government and Twitter over removal of certain tweets around farmer protests.?
Under the new code, social media firms with over 5 million users in India will have to establish local offices with senior officials to deal with law enforcement and user grievances. Meanwhile, Twitter India has put up a job posting and is looking for a legal entity similar to that in Turkey.?
India¡¯s new regulation also mandates such platforms to take down flagged posts within 36 hours of receiving a notice as well as enable traceability of end-to-end encrypted messages.?
Union Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad clarified that the government won¡¯t look at the content or seek decryption of messages, but only to trace the origin of a message that caused serious criminal offences.