How To Remove Content And Block Access Due To Violation Of Personality Rights?
Pursuant to Article 9/1 of Law No. 5651, if content such as videos, images, news, comments, etc., that infringes on a person’s personality rights is published on the internet, the person whose personality rights have been infringed may request that the content be removed or access to it be blocked.
While every attack on personality rights constitutes a tort, not every tort constitutes a crime. Even if it does not constitute a crime, a decision to block access may be issued for any violation of personality rights committed through internet publication.
The court responsible for this matter, the court responsible for issuing a decision to block access to content due to the violation of personal rights, is the Criminal Court of Peace, pursuant to Article 9/1 of Law No. 5651.
The competent court, which is authorized to issue a decision to remove the content and block access due to the violation of personal rights, is the Criminal Court of Peace. If the website has a known center address in Turkey, the Criminal Court of Peace at that address and, pursuant to Article 12/5 of Law No. 5271, the Criminal Court of Peace at the place of residence and domicile of the victim are also authorized to issue decisions to block access.
Decisions to block access issued by the Criminal Courts of Peace are sent directly to the Access Providers Association. The requirement of the decision to block access to content sent by the Association to the access provider is fulfilled by the access provider within 4 hours at the latest.
The Criminal Court of Peace shall decide on the application within 24 hours at the latest without holding a hearing due to the violation of personal rights. An appeal may be lodged against this decision in accordance with the provisions specified in Law No. 5271.
Pursuant to Article 9/9 of Law No. 5651, if the publication related to the violation of personal rights, which is the subject of the decision to block access issued by the Criminal Court of Peace, is also published on other internet addresses not mentioned in the decision, the existing decision shall also apply to these addresses if the person concerned applies to the Access Providers Association.