Ruling party to submit bill against digital disinformation
ANKARA
A senior official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has said a legislative bill will soon be submitted to parliament in an effort to regulate the digital platforms in line with the universal standards, such as the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
“We will adopt our own digital law bill just like the EU adopted its Digital Services Act on April 23, 2002. The EU’s DSA constitutes a turning point on the [use of] internet. It’s based on the principle that what is illegal in real life should also be illegal on the internet,” AKP deputy leader Mahir Ünal told reporters on April 29.
Along with the DSA, the EU has also adopted the Digital Markets Act, which aims to create a safer digital space where the fundamental rights of users are protected and establish a level playing field for businesses.
Ünal said thanks to this bill, disinformation through the digital means will be stopped and the algorithms of online platforms will be more transparent, which is important to control the source of disinformation.
The law will offer better protection to minors and a closer scrutiny system will be developed, Ünal stated.
A draft prepared by the presidency has already been sent to the AKP which has also been shared with Devlet Bahçeli, the chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a strong ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ünal noted.
“We have a general agreement with the MHP over the bill. We will have another meeting in the coming days, and then we will speedily submit it to parliament,” he added.
The opposition parties oppose the bill as a new attempt to restrict online media.
