Access Blocking Decision – Supreme Court Ruling On Fake Facebook And Twitter Accounts
7th Criminal Chamber 2014/5036 E. , 2014/12937 K.
Rejection of the request by the representative of A.. Ş.. to remove the username and profile picture associated with the Twitter account created under the username @ertemsener on the social media site Twitter, as well as the imitation tweet content on this account. Criminal Court of First Instance’s decision dated 29/05/2013 and numbered 2013/1077, regarding the rejection of the appeal against the decision, the authority is the Büyükçekmece 8th Criminal Court of First Instance’s decision dated 12/07/2013 and numbered 2013/186, against which the Ministry of Justice issued a decision dated 13/01/ 2014 and numbered 2892, seeking reversal in the public interest, was read out to the chamber with the notification of the Supreme Court Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office dated 24/01/2014 and numbered KYB. 2014/22872.
The aforementioned notification stated:
Article 9/1-2 of Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications Made on the Internet and the Fight Against Crimes Committed Through These Publications “A person who claims that their rights have been violated due to content may apply to the content provider or, if unable to reach them, to the hosting provider, requesting that the content relating to them be removed from publication and that their response, prepared within the scope of the publication, be published on the internet for a period of one week. The content or hosting provider shall comply with the request within two days of receiving it. If the request is not complied with within this period, it shall be deemed rejected. If the request is deemed rejected, the person may apply to the local criminal court of peace within fifteen days, requesting a decision to remove the content from publication and to publish their response online for one week, provided that it does not exceed the scope of the original content. The criminal court of peace shall decide on this request within three days without holding a hearing. An appeal may be lodged against the decision of the magistrate’s court judge in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code.” Considering this regulation, the username and profile picture on the Twitter account created under the username @ertemsener and the fake tweet content on this account violate the honor and dignity of the person concerned and infringe upon their personal rights. and that the posts made from the aforementioned fake Twitter account give the impression that they belong to A..Ş.., and it is understood that tweets were sent to the aforementioned profile with the belief that the username subject to the complaint belongs to the person concerned. it was deemed inappropriate to reject the objection in writing instead of accepting it, and it was reported that the aforementioned decision should be overturned in the interest of the law, pursuant to Article 309 of the Criminal Procedure Law No. 5271. The matter was discussed and considered on behalf of the Turkish Nation.
Since the content of the notification based on the request for annulment in the interest of the law by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Cassation is deemed appropriate, the decision of the Büyükçekmece 8th Criminal Court of First Instance dated 12.07.2013 and numbered 2013/186 D. The decision dated 12.07.2013 and numbered 2013/186 D. of the Büyükçekmece 8th Criminal Court of First Instance was REVERSED in accordance with Article 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and it was unanimously decided on 19/06/2014 that the username, profile picture, and tweet content on the Twitter account with the username @ertemsener be removed from publication.