An update on Twitter in Turkey

Twitter’s mission is to serve the public conversation and ensure the service is a place where people can connect, find credible information, and express themselves – anywhere in the world. 

We are committed to protecting and defending the Open Internet, and as part of this work, have called for the establishment of regional and global standards for online services. We believe that global and not fragmented frameworks protect online communities and their rights, and ensure they can experience the Internet in the same way across the world. Additionally, in an open, competitive environment, smaller companies are not only able to operate alongside the very largest companies, but can thrive. 

In our continuing effort to provide our service in Turkey, we have closely reviewed the recently amended Internet Law No. 5651. To ensure that Twitter remains available for all who use it in Turkey, we have decided to establish a legal entity. 

In coming to this decision, we were guided by our core mission: defending open, public conversation and ensuring our service is available to people everywhere. 

We remain committed to protecting the voices and data of people in Turkey who use Twitter. We will continue to be transparent about how we handle requests from government and law enforcement. 

Twitter was founded on freedom of expression, and we respect people’s universal right to express their views online. We have a designated human rights function at Twitter and hold our processes, product, and policies accountable — we have and will, as always, enforce our rules impartially and judiciously.

We will continue to work to protect the public conversation in Turkey, empowering people to have access to that conversation, and advocating for our values.