Social media law protects citizens in post-truth era: Altun

ISTANBUL

The recent approved law on social media that seeks to prevent disinformation protects the rights of citizens and strenghtens them against manipulations “in this post-truth era,” Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has said.

“In the age of uncertainty we live in, states, governments and leaders have to fight against challenges such as disinformation, black propaganda, cyber wars and hybrid threats, while conducting positive communication campaigns on global and local scale strategic communication, country branding and public diplomacy,” Altun said at the International Strategic Communication Summit (STRATCOM) held in Istanbul.

“We are trying to continue Türkiye’s struggle for truth in the dimension of communication,” Altun said. “We have to protect our cyber homeland from disinformation, manipulations, influence agents, cyber exploitation and invasions in the era of the post-truth.”

For this very reason, the parliament has enacted a law that protects the personal rights of our citizens on social media and strengthens them against systematic disinformation, he added.

On Oct. 14, the parliament approved the 40-article law with the votes of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) despite the fierce criticism by the opposition parties and press associations.

The most controversial article of the new law – article 29 – stipulates up to a three-year prison sentence for those accused of spreading disinformation. The opposition parties slam the law as a new tool to further restrict freedom of expression in Türkiye especially ahead of next year’s presidential and parliamentary polls.

“We believe that this legal regulation will contribute to the construction of an order in which the truth surrounds everything and a cleaner communication environment,” Altun stated.