Celebrated every year with about 150 countries Safe Internet Day speaking at the opening of Deputy Minister Dr. Omer Fatih SayanHe said that disinformation spreading on social media is one of the biggest problems of the internet age.
In the event hosted by BTK, Sayan stated that social media platforms acted outside of their purpose and interfered in the internal affairs of countries and continued as follows;
“We see that violence and hate crimes are committed on social media, and that they do not take precautions against spreading fake news. In fact, this situation has reached such a level that we now detect things that social media platforms manipulate even country elections with fake news and posts.
Warning from the Ministry: What should Facebook users do?
Deputy Minister Sayan explained what kind of measures should be taken regarding the Facebook data breach affecting 20 million Turkish users.
These and similar claimsNational security” and “public orderIt brought along the problem of social media being a partner to their problems. When we look at the social and political events and various terrorist incidents experienced through social media in the world and in our country, we see that the information pollution produced is for propaganda purposes.
And this work is done consciously, in an organized way, by using social media networks like a tool to mobilize the masses, disrupt public order and cause harm,” he said.
The difference between truth and lie is blurred!
Emphasizing that social media users should also be very careful about this issue, Sayan said, “The sharing of users from their personal accounts easily and without confirming their accuracy makes the news reach individuals much faster.
While this may seem like an advantage in some cases, it actually becomes very dangerous when credibility, accuracy, manipulation, self-interest, distortion of information and online radicalization come into play.
In such a case, so to speak, the mind is confused with each other. In social media environments where the difference between truth and lie becomes unclear, everyone caught in the wind of sharing with the effect of popular culture and trends; believes in unknown sources, videos, audio recordings, news without judgment and shares them without thinking.
And anyone who makes these posts over and over again is serving disinformation, albeit indirectly. For this reason, for us, fake news, disinformation and hate speech are among the most serious problems that need to be tackled today.”
Provocations on Social Media are a Modern Time Weapon
Sayan said, “I believe all these cyber attacks, provocations on social media, the spread of manipulated information; I see it as a weapon of modern world wars.
And these are perhaps the most effective, the most dangerous regulations. This clearly shows that in the coming years, we will encounter more hybrid war techniques and threats focused on the digital world and social media, together with conventional warfare techniques.
We Do Not Find The Current Progress Of Social Media Networks Sufficient
Talking about the social media regulation that was implemented last year, Sayan blamed the discrimination they made on social media networks. Inviting all of them to act justly, Sayan said, “I would like to remind you of an issue that I have mentioned many times before.
We expect them to develop their own algorithms within the scope of protecting personal rights, removing disinformative content with self-control, facilitating drug use, leading to suicide and preventing publications related to catalog crimes.
I want social networks to treat all users in the Republic of Turkey equally and fairly, and most importantly, to provide the same rights as European Union citizens, and to abandon the discriminatory policies they apply against our citizens as soon as possible and invite them to act responsibly.
We Want to Build Realistic and Concrete Relationships with Social Media Networks
Sayan said, “I warn you again from here. Our aim is not to ensure every step we take with regulation. We want our relationship to sit on a real ground. Instead of the interlocutor relationship with virtual offices, we want to establish a realistic and concrete relationship that will respond quickly to the problems of our citizens.
We do not find the current progress sufficient, and we took the necessary steps in 2021 to improve this relationship. No one should doubt that we will take much stronger steps in 2022 as well,” and pointed out that they will not show any tolerance in this matter.