X opens representative office in Türkiye

ANKARA

Social media platform X has established a representative office in Türkiye and will now operate in the country from its Istanbul-based office, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has announced.

Turkish authorities had called upon the platform, formerly known as Twitter, to establish a representation several times, announcing that until the representation was established, advertising in Türkiye was prohibited.

"Following this advertising ban, we clearly stated that bandwidth throttling measures would commence,” Uraloğlu said.

"In response, we believe Twitter [X] has come to understand the sensitivity of the matter, as they established a company in Istanbul towards the end of April, becoming our official counterpart. This has resulted in a significant gain for us both in terms of tax payment in Türkiye and in directly implementing sanctions,” the minister explained.

Meanwhile, Hüseyin Yayman, the chairman of the parliamentary commission on digital platforms reported that he had requested representatives of X to appear before the parliament to provide information about their activities in Türkiye.

Addressing the inclusion of digital publications in copyright coverage in Türkiye and receiving payment when used, Yayman also mentioned that Google representatives will come to the parliament in June to discuss this matter.

Yayman earlier contended that while in many developed nations, Google compensates media outlets handsomely for their online content, Türkiye's lack of such legislation leaves its news outlets producing content without remuneration.