Erdoğan Tightening Stranglehold on Social Media

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is moving to tighten what is already a stranglehold on media, this time focusing on social media. The latest move is being carried out by his ruling party, which is submitting legislation that would require social media companies that have 1 million or more users per day to establish a formal legal presence in the country. This requirement would give jurisdiction to the Turkish courts to deal with any complaints, which could have significant legal ramifications for the companies and their local employees. Erdoğan is reportedly reacting to tweets he said were insulting to his family. The penalties are severe, including a loss of up to 90% of a company’s bandwidth.