Erdogan says officials conducting work on new law to regulate social media

President Erdogan has made an important statement about social media upon questions from journalists saying Turkey was often exposed to attacks Erdogan described as “lie terror” and terror organizations such as FETO, the PKK and alike often targeted the country via lies.

Erdgan also shared following points:

“They work like a lie factory”

“The opposition parties, especially the CHP and Mr. Kemal (CHP leader), are very familiar with these lies. They work like a lie factory… And digital terror on the other hand, it’s always at work. Of course, we have legal arrangements against them, but it is inevitable that we will take much stronger steps. We are determined to fight the lie terror. Our friends are conducting a technical study for a new law in Turkey that will protect the personal rights and data of our citizens, and will stand against discrediting, defamation, lies and slander campaigns on both traditional and new communication channels. Preparations will be completed as soon as possible. As soon as the parliament opens, this issue will be brought to the agenda of our Parliament.”

Pointing out the importance of this issue for Turkey and democracy, Erdogan noted they would contribute to the emergence of a legal ground to protect both individual rights and freedoms and national security against the systematic disinformation and lies that would target the state.

He went on to say, “Of course, it’s not only about lies. Social media platforms like Twitter are just opening an office here. But they should come here with their staff, everything, and in the event of any violation, they should also be charged and we should be able to collect concerned when need be. As of now, when you  look at Twitter, Facebook, none of them have any responsible people etc. that can be taken as an interlocutor when they do any wrong work. We can’t deal with this situation. They will have to pay the price. These things won’t work otherwise.”