Turkey's Erdogan calls social media 'one of the main sources of threat to democracy'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday described social media as one of the main threats to democracy. In a video message, Erdogan said that social media, which was described as a symbol of freedom, has turned into one of the main sources of threat to democracy. His remarks come as Turkey is planning to pursue legislation to criminalise spreading fake news and disinformation online, a move that critics say would tighten restrictions on free speech. 

On Saturday, in a video message to a government-organised communications conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said, “Social media, which was described as a symbol of freedom when it first appeared, has turned into one of the main sources of threat to today’s democracy.” 

He added, “We try to protect our people, especially the vulnerable sections of our society, against lies and disinformation without violating our citizens’ right to receive accurate and impartial information.”

Turkey's crackdown on 'fake news'

It is to mention that Turkey has already passed a law requiring social media platforms that have more than one million users to maintain a legal representative and store data in the nation. Companies including Facebook, Youtube and Twitter have since established offices in Turkey. Now, Istanbul is looking to criminalise the spread of “disinformation” and “fake news” online and establish a social media regulator. 

According to AP, the new legislation would make the spreading of false information a punishable crime of up to five years in prison. Posts the government deems as misinformation would be also removed from all social media websites. If the law passes, the critics have said that it would tighten restrictions on free speech and violate citizens’ rights.

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note here that most of Turkey’s major media firms are under the control of the government, leaving social media as an important outlet for dissenting voices. However, it was previously reported Erdogan’s administration had earlier taken down several posts that were anti-government. Separately, Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net report, published in September, had also characterised Turkey as “not free”. It noted the removal of content critical of the government and the prosecution of people posting “undesirable” commentary on social media.  

(Image: AP)