The Framework

Turkey regulates online content primarily through Law No. 5651 (the “Internet Law”), which was significantly amended in 2020 and 2022. The law targets foreign and domestic social network providers (SNPs) with over one million daily accesses from Turkey, requiring them to appoint a local representative (either a Turkish legal entity or a Turkish citizen) accountable to Turkish authorities.[1] These SNPs must respond to user complaints regarding violations of personal and privacy rights within 48 hours and comply with official content removal or access blocking orders from Turkish courts or the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) within similarly short timeframes (often 48 hours, sometimes faster). Failure to appoint a representative or comply with removal orders triggers escalating sanctions, including substantial fines (tens of millions of Turkish Lira), bans on advertising revenue from Turkish companies, and ultimately, judicial orders to throttle the platform’s internet bandwidth by up to 90 percent, effectively making the service unusable. Furthermore, Law No. 7418, enacted in October 2022, introduced Article 217/A to the Penal Code, criminalizing the “public dissemination of misleading information” (disinformation) with prison sentences of one to three years, a measure frequently used against journalists and critics.[2]

Implications for U.S. Technology Companies

Major U.S. technology companies like Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Google (YouTube), and X (formerly Twitter) easily surpass the user threshold and face significant burdens under Turkish law. They incur substantial costs in establishing local representation and managing the high volume of content removal and blocking requests; Turkey is among the world’s top requestors for such actions.[3] Compliance often involves removing content critical of the government or officials, placing U.S. companies in a difficult position of potentially facilitating censorship that conflicts with global free expression principles. Non-compliance, however, carries the severe risk of advertising bans and crippling bandwidth reductions that disrupt services and revenue. The broadly defined “disinformation” law adds another layer of legal risk, potentially holding platforms liable for user-generated content deemed “misleading” by authorities and chilling online speech. This regulatory environment forces U.S. firms into a “lose-lose situation,” compelling difficult choices between enabling state censorship or facing operational paralysis in the Turkish market.

How China Benefits

Turkey’s regulatory environment may indirectly benefit Chinese tech platforms by imposing greater friction on their U.S. competitors. American firms, which often strive to uphold global free speech norms, face legal, reputational, and operational risks when complying with extensive censorship demands. In contrast, Chinese companies may be more accustomed to operating in similarly restrictive environments and less constrained by public commitments to expression rights. This regulatory asymmetry could ease market entry and expansion for Chinese platforms, especially as Turkish authorities seek tighter content control and alternative digital partnerships.

Endnotes