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Hüseyin Yayman, chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s Digital Media Committee and a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has said many citizens are calling for the banning of TikTok.
Yayman, who represents Turkey’s southern Hatay province, said residents in Hatay, Ankara, Adana, Mersin and İstanbul have conveyed their concerns about the platform.
Speaking to the Demirören news agency, Yayman said, “People on the street tell me, ‘If you ban TikTok, you will open the gates of heaven.’ There are numerous complaints about TikTok, and it has become an object of hatred in society. The irrational and absurd behavior of users, especially older people, in their posts has led to significant criticism. I don’t see these as expressions of freedom. This platform represents a departure from both national and universal values.”
Yayman claimed there’s a need for TikTok to align with Turkey’s moral and ethical standards, adding, “I call on TikTok’s representatives in Turkey and global network providers to ensure that their content complies with our societal values and traditions. We do not approve of or accept the current state of content on TikTok.”
Yayman condemned recent TikTok content related to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
“We do not approve of the trivialization and trolling of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He is a shared value of the Turkish nation, and such actions highlight the crisis within the digital world,” he said.
TikTok üzerinden yapay zeka ile Atatürk'e değişik hareketler yaptıran saygısızlar utanmadan bu anları paylaşıyor!
Şahıslar hakkında 5816 sayılı kanun gereği işlem yapılacağı ön görülüyor. pic.twitter.com/cFsOQ7Lz4L
— Metruk (@Metruk_Haber) August 5, 2024
Many users on TikTok are making music videos with a new AI feature that integrates historical footage of Ataturk into their own content. Videos following such a trend show Atatürk stepping out of his own image to step into the poster’s image on a split screen, whereupon they embrace.
Yayman further argued that TikTok poses a national security threat and suggested that a vast majority of the Turkish population supports banning the platform. “If a public opinion survey were conducted, 90 percent of the people would want TikTok banned. The platform has gone beyond acceptable limits, with posts seeking engagement becoming increasingly bizarre and detached from reality,” he stated.
The deputy also pointed out that while the committee does not have a stance on banning TikTok, this decision lies with the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). However, he acknowledged that public sentiment heavily favors the ban.
Yayman had previously described social media as “the center of evil,” reiterating his critical stance on platforms like TikTok.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration has been regularly accused of suppressing freedom of expression and information, with Turkey ranking among the “not free” countries in terms of internet freedom, according to Freedom House.
Instagram has been banned in Turkey since Friday, with government officials and President Erdoğan accusing the platform of censorship and failing to remove posts they deem offensive. On Wednesday Turkey blocked access to Roblox, a popular online game platform.
Turkish authorities have in the past temporarily blocked access to other social media sites, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Wikipedia.