Despite controversial law, Twitter appoints a representative in Turkey

Twitter announced the appointment of an official representative in Turkey, where he will be subject to a controversial law that may compel him to comply with courts requesting content removal.

“In order to keep Twitter available to all its users in Turkey, we decided to appoint a legal representative for us,” the social network announced in a statement on Friday evening.

The Turkish government announced that it was informed of this decision, which comes after a months-long conflict between Ankara and social media.

In January, Turkey deprived Twitter of advertising revenue to force it to appoint a legal representative under a law that took effect in October.

The text obliges social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to appoint representatives in Turkey under threat of sanctions and compliance with court orders to remove content within 48 hours.

In recent months, the main social networks have appointed a representative in Turkey, such as Facebook in January.

The Turkish government claims that this law aims to combat information piracy.

Critics say the text opens the way for censorship, as Turkish authorities relentlessly persecute dissidents on social media, especially since the failed 2016 coup.

The Turkish government imposes strict censorship on social networking sites and has filed several lawsuits following simple tweets for “insulting the head of state” or “terrorist propaganda.”

In 2019, Turkey blocked access to 408,000 websites, 40,000 tweets, 10,000 YouTube videos and 6,200 Facebook posts, according to the Freedom of Expression Association report.