Twitter, Facebook Fined by Turkey for Breaching Law Aimed at Curbing Dissent

By David Gauthier-Villars

ISTANBUL -- Turkish authorities have fined Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. and three other social-media platforms for failing to comply with a new law that civil-rights activists have decried as an attempt to stifle dissent.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Periscope and TikTok have each been fined 10 million Turkish lira, equivalent to $1.2 million, for missing a Nov. 2 deadline to appoint a country representative, Turkey's deputy minister of transportation and infrastructure, Omer Fatih Sayan, said Wednesday.

The new law, which was adopted in the summer and came into force last month, gives the government more power to police content. It also requires social media companies to have a permanent representative in Turkey, take steps to store Turkish users' data in the country, and execute court orders to take down content. Mr. Sayan, whose ministry oversees the country's internet agency, said he was confident that all operators would comply.

"Our aim isn't to be in a quarrel with those providers, who serve billions of people in the world," he said.

A spokesman for Twitter, which also operates Periscope, declined to comment. TikTok and Facebook, which owns Instagram, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Under the new law, social-media companies are required to have a permanent representative in Turkey, take steps to store Turkish users' data in the country, and execute court orders to take down content.

Those rules have alarmed opposition leaders and free-speech advocates. They say social media has become one of the last few spaces to express dissent after tycoons loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acquired television channels and national newspapers following a failed coup attempt in 2016. Dozens of other outlets were closed amid accusations they supported the plotters.

Failure to comply with the new law exposes operators to a five-step regime of sanctions ranging from fines to being stripped of advertising revenue and being subjected to near-complete access restrictions.

Write to David Gauthier-Villars at David.Gauthier-Villars@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 04, 2020 10:05 ET (15:05 GMT)

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