Constitutional Court's 'rights violation' ruling on Ekşi Sözlük… IT Law Expert Özmestik: 'It must be implemented and complied with immediately'

Evaluating the Constitutional Court’s ‘rights violation’ ruling regarding the access ban imposed on Ekşi Sözlük for 12punto, IT Law Expert Attorney Fehmi Ünsal Özmestik stated, “In accordance with the relevant article of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court’s violation ruling must be immediately implemented and complied with by the relevant local court. While lawyers may undoubtedly criticize or debate the decisions made by the Constitutional Court, the implementation of the ruling is not open to debate under the relevant article of the Constitution, and the relevant authorities are obligated to enforce it.”

Stating that ‘Frankly, the Constitutional Court’s violation ruling on this matter is not a surprise for legal professionals,’ Özmestik added, “Any lawyer who has received undergraduate legal education at any university possesses the legal knowledge to know that the access ban decision given to this platform is unlawful. There is no legal basis for debating this issue further.”

Attorney Fehmi Ünsal Özmestik’s evaluations on the subject are as follows:

“I have provided opinions to various news agencies in previous years regarding the access ban on the Ekşi Sözlük platform. As we stated back then, due to existing legal regulations, completely blocking access to such social media platforms is unlawful. This is because the legal regulations regarding the subject are clear enough not to allow for debate. To put it more simply, while it is possible to remove or block access to specific content based on links if there is ‘unlawful content’ on an internet platform, blocking access to the entire website is unlawful.”

‘ISSUING CONSTANT BAN ORDERS IS NOT EFFECTIVE’

Social media platforms have recently been heavily criticized for disinformation and fake news. Frankly, there are valid reasons for these criticisms. However, at the point we have reached, these platforms provide the public with the right to receive current and rapid news. When serious news-worthy events occur on various scales in our country or the world, citizens cannot learn about these developments from traditional media. Why traditional media has reached such a point is a separate topic of discussion. However, citizens can quickly learn about various news items related to topics they are interested in through social media platforms, with images and videos. At this point, these platforms should no longer be viewed merely as platforms with a certain legal personality, but as a medium where the public receives news and people can express their opinions through their own posts.

Undoubtedly, these channels should also be audited. However, issuing constant ban orders in a non-uniform manner is not only ineffective but also leads to the exact opposite effect of what is intended to be achieved by the ban. Because even if such sites are blocked, they can still be followed by citizens through various simple technological methods.
When these channels are blocked by authorities, it arouses more curiosity in citizens to access that content. Unfortunately, decisions are made without evaluating these developments occurring on social media.

‘VIOLATION RULING IS NO SURPRISE’

As a result of all this, we have learned that following the application by the relevant institution after the decision to block access to Ekşi Sözlük, the Constitutional Court ruled that there was a violation of rights regarding freedom of expression under the Constitution.
Frankly, the Constitutional Court’s violation ruling on this matter is not a surprise for legal professionals. Any lawyer who has received undergraduate legal education at any university possesses the legal knowledge to know that the access ban decision given to this platform is unlawful. There is no legal basis for debating this issue further.

‘THE RULING MUST BE IMPLEMENTED’

Unfortunately, in recent years, we have been seeing different applications even for the most well-known legal rules in the legal community. Such incorrect decisions do not only affect the trade of the relevant companies. Worst of all, they damage justice in our country and the trust in it. For this reason, in order for citizens to trust the law in our country, lawyers, judges, and prosecutors serving in the judiciary must work very hard and perform their duties in accordance with legal rules. Only in this way can trust in the law in our country increase. Otherwise, the average citizen on the street who cannot collect even the simplest debt will be hesitant when going to the justice system and will have question marks in their mind about whether they will be able to obtain their rights.

Finally, returning to the Constitutional Court’s rights violation ruling regarding the closure of Ekşi Sözlük, in accordance with the relevant article of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court’s violation ruling must be immediately implemented and complied with by the relevant local court. While lawyers may undoubtedly criticize or debate the decisions made by the Constitutional Court, the implementation of the ruling is not open to debate under the relevant article of the Constitution, and the relevant authorities are obligated to enforce it.”

News Source: 12punto