Parliamentary head urges X to open office in Türkiye

ANKARA

The parliament's digital media commission head has issued a warning to X, formerly Twitter, urging the social media platform to establish a representative office in Türkiye.

"We say, whatever conditions and norms you comply with in Berlin and England, we want them to fulfill these conditions in Türkiye as well," Hüseyin Yayman told private broadcaster CNN Türk.

Yayman highlighted the commission's previous attempts to engage with X officials regarding the platform's algorithms designed to protect young people, children and families. However, the discussions were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They're getting around the law," Yayman criticized, emphasizing the need for X to establish a physical presence in Türkiye.

The call for action comes after Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu last month disclosed the government's contemplation of bandwidth throttling measures against X due to its failure to appoint a local representative.

The government imposed an administrative fine of 40 million Turkish Liras ($1.22 million) on X for its non-compliance with the requirement to appoint a representative. Subsequently, an advertising ban was enforced, restricting the platform from accepting advertisements from Turkish advertisers. Instead, X is permitted to display ads sourced solely from international entities to its Turkish user base.

Bandwidth throttling, a punitive measure under consideration, involves deliberately slowing down access to a website, regardless of the user's internet speed.