On October 13, 2022, the Turkish Parliament introduced amendments to the Press Law ("Press Law Amendments") in response to the increasing importance of social networks among users and regulators worldwide. For a thorough assessment of these amendments, please revisit our previous article titled "Under the Magnifying Glass: Turkey Introduces New Responsibilities for Social Networks and Digital Media! - Social Media - Turkey". Subsequently, on April 1, 2023, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority ("ICTA") introduced the Principles and Procedures for Social Network Providers ("New Principles and Procedures") providing Social Network Providers ("SNP") with clarifications on the requirements and their implementation in accordance with the Press Law Amendments.

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Quick Recap of the Press Law Amendments

The Press Law Amendments brought new areas of concern for SNPs and over-the-top ("OTT") service providers. These impose new responsibilities on SNPs, requiring them to modify their operational procedures. Similarly, OTT service providers must comply with a set of new requirements if said services are provided publicly. Similarly, New Principles and Procedures introduced notice and takedown procedures, aligning them with the Press Law Amendments.

What Do the New Principles and Procedures Bring?

Firstly, the New Principles and Procedures broaden the scope of SNPs beyond those with 1 million daily access. Accordingly, SNPs of all sizes are subject to certain requirements defined in the Press Law Amendments. The New Principles and Procedures, while restating these requirements, provide additional details as follows:

  • Providing public authorities with information regarding content subject to specific crimes,
  • Storage of data in Türkiye (SNPs with daily access from Türkiye exceeding 1 million shall take necessary actions to ensure user data is stored in Türkiye),
  • Offering specialized and filtered services for children (New Principles and Procedures specifies the maxims that SNPs shall consider during the display of content, advertisements, and provision of services to children),
  • Protecting user rights (New Principles and Procedures specify what SNPs shall provide to users in terms of services),
  • Establishing an effective application mechanism for removing title tags and featured content through warning methods (A reporting obligation is defined in New Principles and Procedures),
  • Sharing information about content that endangers the life and property safety of individuals with authorized law enforcement units,
  • Providing ICTA with all requested information and documents within three months at the least, and the ICTA mayinspect the SNP's compliance with the Press Law on-site at premises of the SNP,
  • Creating a crisis plan for extraordinary situations affecting public safety and public health (According to New Principles and Procedures, the method of preparing crisis plan and of reporting may be determined by the ICTA).

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in an administrative fine of up to 3% of the global revenue of SNPs.

Furthermore, additional requirements are defined for SNPs, whose daily network access exceeds 1 million and 10 million in Türkiye. These are explained below.

Obligations Regarding Designation of Representative

Similar to previous principles and procedures, foreign SNPs with more than 1 million daily accesses from Türkiye are obliged to designate at least one real or legal person as their representative. However, the New Principles and Procedures now require the natural person representative to be a resident and citizen of Türkiye.

Additionally, for SNPs with more than 10 million daily accesses from Türkiye, their representative must possess full authority and responsibility in technical, administrative, legal, and financial aspects. The representative shall provide the related documents proving the abovementioned matters to the ICTA:

  • If the representative is an individual, they must submit documents proving their Turkish citizenship and residency to the ICTA.
  • If the representative is a legal entity, they must provide the legal entity's articles of association, a copy of the trade registry gazette, other establishment documents, and the identity and contact information of authorized individuals representing and binding the legal entity, along with relevant legal documents.

The maximum period for notifying the ICTA of any changes in the submitted information and documents has been extended from 24 to 72 hours.

The duties of the representatives remain the same as follows:

  • Fulfilling notifications, notices, or requests from the ICTA, or other judicial or administrative authorities.
  • Responding to applications made by individuals within the scope of the Press Law.
  • Fulfilling the reporting obligation defined in the Press Law.
  • Fulfilling the responsibilities and obligations of the SNP as a content or hosting provider.
  • Ensuring compliance with other obligations under the Press Law.

Administrative fines for failure to appoint a representative remain unchanged. If an SNP fails to fulfill its obligations regarding appointment of a representative, a notification is sent to the SNP by ICTA. If a representative is not appointed within thirty days of such notification, a fine of TRY 10,000,000 (approx. USD 380,000) will be imposed. Furthermore, if no representative is appointed within thirty days following the notification of the administrative fine, an additional administrative fine of TRY 30,000,000 (approx. USD 1,150,000) will be imposed. Should the SNP not comply within 30 days of the implementation of the second set of fines, a further advertisement ban will be imposed. Subsequently, if the non-compliance persists for three months following the advertisement ban, the SNP's internet bandwidth will be reduced by 50%. In the event of failure to comply within 30 days of the implementation of the initial bandwidth reduction, the internet bandwidth reduction could reach up to 90%, depending on the nature of the service, as determined by the judicature (note that the bandwidth reduction order cannot be below 50%).

Representative as an Equity Company

For foreign SNPs with more than 10 million daily accesses from Türkiye, if their representative is a legal entity, it must be a branch established as an equity company. Furthermore, if an equity company fulfils certain requirements in the New Principles and Procedures (e.g., ownership of all shares by the SNP, registered capital of at least TRY 200,000,000 (approx. USD 7,660,000)) and notifies its fulfilment to the ICTA, it will be deemed as the representative.

In the event that the representative is a legal entity, information and documents proving compliance with the required conditions must be submitted to the ICTA. The maximum period for notifying the agency of any changes in the submitted information and documents has also been extended from 24 to 72 hours.

Other Requirements for SNPs with over 1 million Daily Accesses

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SNPs with daily Turkish access exceeding 1 million are also required to respond to the requests of users within 48 hours. It is also mandated that SNPs shall facilitate the process of individual applications. Consequently, users must be provided with the alternative of submitting their requests in the Turkish; requests that are made in Turkish are to be replied to in Turkish. Failure to comply with these obligations may result in an administrative fine of TRY 5,000,000 (approx. USD 190,000).

Additionally, SNPs are required to submit reports to the ICTA every 6 months1. These reports, prepared in Turkish, should contain statistical and categorical information on the implementation of decisions to remove notified content and/or block access, as well as applications made by individuals. The amendment now specifies the report's scope, including information on the SNPs' capacity, self-audit, ad policies, ad library, and more. Failure to fulfil the reporting obligation may result in an administrative fine of TRY 10,000,000 (approx. USD 380,000) imposed on the SNPs.

Furthermore, with New Principles and Procedures, SNPs with more than 1 million daily users in Türkiye must establish an advertisement library including the following:

  • Details of the advertisement,
  • Type of the advertisement,
  • Ad provider,
  • The broadcasting time of the advertisement,
  • The target audience of the advertisement and parameters used to define the target audience,
  • Number of individuals and groups reached with the advertisement.

Failure to fulfil this obligation may result in an administrative fine of TRY 10,000,000 (approx. USD 380,000) imposed on the SNPs.

Conclusion

The enactment of the New Principles and Procedures by the ICTA underscores the heightened scrutiny regarding SNPs. This reflects the global trend of regulatory frameworks governing digital platforms. New Principles and Procedures, which align with the Press Law Amendments, offer additional clarity on the specific obligations imposed on SNPs. It is imperative for the SNPs to thoroughly evaluate the requirements and procedures outlined in the New Principles and Procedures and implement mechanisms to ensure compliance with their obligations.

Footnote

1. The report for January 1 – June 30 is to be submitted to ICTA in July, report for July 1 – December 31 is to be submitted in January.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.