27 July 2020

The Turkish government’s efforts to introduce new powers to control social media will greatly increase online censorship, particularly in light of the country’s poor record on freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Turkish government is rushing a legal amendment to Turkey’s internet law through parliament before the summer recess in a move to force social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to comply with any demands by the government to block or remove content.

“If passed, the new law will enable the government to control social media, to get content removed at will, and to arbitrarily target individual users,” said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “Social media is a lifeline for many people who use it to access news, so this law signals a new dark era of online censorship.”