Social media monitoring center for lawyers from the TBB

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) plans to control the digital environment more effectively to ensure that lawyers comply with the advertising ban. The newly formed five-person team will closely monitor lawyers' posts on social media and the internet to check whether advertising and promotional restrictions are being violated.

With the latest regulations published in the Official Gazette, significant changes have been made to the TBB Advertising Regulation. Within the scope of these innovations, restrictions on lawyers making posts that highlight themselves in the social media environment have been increased. It has been officially decided to establish a monitoring center responsible for detecting violations.

Those who violate the advertising ban will now be monitored not only on social media but also in all written, visual, and digital media. This monitoring center, which will consist of five people, will be appointed by the TBB Board of Directors from among lawyers who have not received disciplinary penalties and are experts in their profession, for a period not exceeding two years. The unit will report the detected violations to the bar associations they are affiliated with, will be able to request data regarding investigations, and will be able to follow bar association processes.

STRICTER REGULATION FOR LAWYERS WITH NEW RULES

With the regulation, many new limits have been imposed on lawyers, including highlighting the cases and files they handle for advertising purposes and acting as a spokesperson regarding clients or cases. Lawyers who produce legal content or want to engage in promotional activities on social media will now be under strict supervision.

In addition, restrictions have been imposed on associating luxury lifestyles, income declarations, and attention-grabbing private life posts with professional identity. Lawyers are now obligated to avoid content that is incompatible with professional honor in their posts about their private lives.

Furthermore, new limitations have been introduced regarding keywords and SEO applications used to appear at the top of search results on websites, as well as redirection codes.

In line with the updates made to the Attorneyship Law, warnings, reprimands, and various disciplinary sanctions may be applied to those who do not comply with the rules. Behaviors such as illegal statements, abusing the advantages of one's position, failing to store case files properly, participating in remote hearings from inappropriate environments, or appearing in court without a robe have been included in the scope of disciplinary penalties.

It is stated that the new monitoring mechanism will be an important step in regulating the increasing activities of lawyers in digital environments and protecting professional ethical rules.