Erdogan: Social media is a threat to democracy.
Saying that social media is a threat to democracy, the Turkish president said he was protecting his citizens from misinformation and lies on these networks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday evening described social media as a “threat to democracy.”
“Social media, originally described as a symbol of freedom, has become a major source of threat to democracy today,” Erdogan said in a video message.
“We try to protect our people, especially the vulnerable, from lies and misinformation, without violating the right of our citizens to receive accurate and impartial information,” he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. ».
According to the report, Erdogan’s remarks come as the Turkish government seeks to criminalize the publication of false information online. If the law is passed, a social media regulator will be created, and posts that the government considers to be misinformation will be punished by up to five years in prison.
The Associated Press also wrote that the social networks Facebook, YouTube and Twitter all set up offices in Turkey in 2020.
