The Amendment Law on the Media Law and Other Laws (the Amendment Law) was published in the Official Gazette on 18 October 2022.
The Amendment Law incorporates significant amendments to the Electronic Communications Law No. 5809 (the Electronic Communications Law) and defines "over-the-top service" (OTT) as:
interpersonal electronic communication services within the scope of audio, written and visual communication, presented (i) to subscribers and users with internet access, (ii) independently from the operators or the provided internet service, (iii) via a software open to the public.
With these amendments, OTT service providers are included in the service providers that are required to obtain authorisation from the regulatory body of the telecoms sector in Turkey, the Information Technologies and Communication Authority.
These amendments also regulate that OTT service providers must carry out their activities through their fully authorised representatives, which must be incorporated under Turkish Commercial Code as a joint stock or limited liability company in Turkey.
Further, depending on the presented OTT service's nature, OTT service providers will be deemed as "operators" in terms of regulated rights and obligations under the Electronic Communications Law.
Additionally, in cases of incompliance, the Amendment Law regulates that the authority may:
- take all types of measures in order to prevent the OTT services from being presented to users;
- apply administrative fines between 1 million Turkish lira to 30 million Turkish lira (approximately between €54,000 and €1.6 million) against the OTT service providers that do not fulfil the obligations under the Electronic Communications Law or provide services without authorisation; and
- reduce the internet traffic bandwidth of OTT service providers up to 95% or block access to the application or website if:
- the administrative fine is not paid and the legislative obligations are not fulfilled; or
- if OTT service is provided without authorisation, within the six months of the date the authority notifies the OTT service provider.
The Amendment Law is quite broad, and the details regarding authorisation types and authorisation steps have not yet been published. The authority is expected to provide the details related to the authorization of OTT services in the coming days.
For further information on this topic please contact Burak Özdağıstanli, Sümeyye Uçar or Bensu Özdemir at Özdağıstanli Ekici Attorney Partnership by telephone (+90 216 230 07 48) or email ([email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]). The Özdağıstanli Ekici Attorney Partnership website can be accessed at www.ozdagistanliekici.com.