The “Combating Disinformation Regulation”, which was prepared to combat disinformation, was approved by the vote held in the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) on 13 October. Within the scope of the law, a new type of crime was created in the “Crimes Against Public Peace” section of the Turkish Penal Code, and the crime of “publicly disseminating misleading information to the public” was regulated.
“THE PRISON FOR UP TO 3 YEARS FOR PEOPLE WHO PUBLISHED FOUGHT INFORMATION”
With the law, a new type of crime was created in the “Crimes Against Public Peace” section of the Turkish Penal Code, and the crime of “publicly disseminating misleading information to the public” was regulated. The person or persons who publicly disseminate false information regarding the internal and external security, public order and general health of the country in order to create anxiety, fear or panic among the public, in a way that is suitable for disrupting the public peace, will be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 year to 3 years. If the perpetrator commits the crime while hiding his real identity or within the framework of the activities of an organization, the penalty will be increased by half. Decisions of the criminal chambers of the Regional Court of Justice (Appeal) given for the crime of “publicly disseminating misleading information to the public” can be appealed. Accordingly, the appealed files will be subject to Supreme Court review. Convictions under 5 years in criminal cases were finalized in Regional Courts of Justice. Along with the law, content that constitutes a crime against the activities and personnel of the National Intelligence Agency was also included in the scope of catalog crimes.
“WE WILL NOT STAY WITH YOU”
Evaluating the disinformation law to SABAH, AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Yılmaz Tunç said, “There are elements of crime here, if these elements are realized, there will be punishment. Regulations in this direction were made in Europe. This regulation does not restrict freedom of the press. It further strengthens freedom of the press, a regulation that protects the public’s right to receive accurate information.In other words, when you publicly disseminate fake news and untrue information on social media or on television or in newspapers, if this fake news, this disinformation-related untrue information adversely affects public order and spoils the public stance, the country’s internal and external “If it poses a threat to security, if it creates a negative situation for general health and if untrue information is suitable to disturb the public peace, it will be the subject of the judiciary. .
“THE LAW IS TRYING TO BE DISTORTED”
Noting that the opposition is trying to distort the “Disinformation law” by calling it a censorship law, Tunç said, “This regulation is definitely not censorship, on the contrary, it is a law designed to protect the country’s internal and external security, to prevent crime on the internet and crime on social media. Therefore, we should not respect any of these distortions. needed,” he said. Regarding CHP’s bringing the regulation to fight against disinformation to the Constitutional Court, Tunç said, “This regulation does not have any unconstitutional aspect. It is a regulation completely in line with our constitution. Because the scope of freedom of thought and expression is clear in the constitution. There are limits to freedom of thought and expression. These limits are also listed in the constitution. Matters. A flat article has been regulated in the Constitution within the limits of freedom of thought and expression. There is no unconstitutional aspect of the regulation. Freedom of thought and expression does not include terrorist propaganda. Article 26 of our Constitution, Article 10-11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, United Nations Civil and Article 19 of the Covenant on Political Rights are articles stating that the call for violence cannot be considered within the freedom of expression of thought. Therefore, this arrangement is fully compatible with both our constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, which we have signed, and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
THE CASE OF KAFTANCIOĞLU
Former CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu had repeatedly insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the state on social media. The Supreme Court upheld Kaftancıoğlu’s sentences.
Kaftancıoğlu shared a post on social media after the murder of Sakine Cansız, one of the founders of the PKK terrorist organization. Kaftancıoğlu said, “‘The history of humanity begins with women. Humanity loses with what is done to women,’ said Sakine Cansız. And humanity lost” and later deleted it. The Supreme Court ruled that these statements did not constitute the crime of “making propaganda for an armed terrorist organization”. In the decision, it was also stated that when the whole of Kaftancıoğlu’s posts on social media, known for his oppositional personality, were examined, the elements of the crime of “provoking the public to hatred and enmity” did not occur.
HERE ARE THE LAWS IN THE USA AND EUROPE
The law, called the “Censorship law” by the opposition, is in effect in countries such as the USA, Germany, France, England. Under the law in the US and Europe, there are immediate sanctions if the law is violated. In this context, posts with terrorist content on the internet are removed within 1 hour in the European Union (EU). This includes all shares on the internet such as pictures, videos, texts and sounds. Again, the European Union Commission fined Facebook 110 million euros for providing false and misleading information during the purchase of Whatsapp. In the USA, with the regulation called “Chapter 230”, companies can interfere with sharing and accounts if they wish. In France, a legal regulation was made in 2020 with the content of disinformation and social media. With the regulation, discrimination and violent posts are prohibited, while terrorist and child abuse posts are completely removed within 1 hour. In Germany, with the legal regulation made in 2018, complaints about sharing can be examined. While illegal content is removed within 24 hours, fines between 5 and 25 million euros are imposed in case of violation. In the first 6 months of the law in Germany, Facebook removed 21.2 percent of the content subject to complaint, 27.1 percent of YouTube, 46.1 percent of Google and 10.8 percent of Twitter. .
