With the spread of social media, crimes of insult, slander and threats have largely moved to digital platforms. These contents give rise to both penal and compensation liability.
1. Crime of Insult (TCK Article 125)
"Any person who attributes a concrete act or fact that may offend a person's honor, dignity and prestige, or who attacks someone's honor, dignity and prestige by swearing, is sentenced to imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years or a judicial fine."
Qualified Cases
- Due to duty towards a public official: The upper limit cannot be less than 1 year
- Publicly (on social media): The penalty is increased by 1/6
- Through press and publication: Increased in the same way
Commitment to Complaint
As a rule, the crime of insult depends on the complaint. The victim must file a complaint within 6 months after learning about the act and the perpetrator (TCK Article 73). When a crime is committed against a public official due to his/her duty, it is prosecuted ex officio.
2. Crime of Slander (TCK Article 267)
1-4 years imprisonment for a person who accuses a person of an unlawful act, by reporting to the competent authorities or through the press and publications, in order to initiate an investigation and prosecution against him or to impose administrative sanctions, even though he knows that he has not committed it.
Social media slander is directly evaluated within the scope of TCK Article 125; TCK Article 267 are mostly unfounded reports made to the law enforcement/prosecutor's office.
3. Crime of Threat (TCK Article 106)
"Any person who threatens another person with an attack on his or her relative's life, body or sexual immunity is sentenced to imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years."
Threats made via DM (Direct Message) sent on social media are evaluated in this context.
Evidence Collection Process
What the Victim Should Do
Anonymous Account Detection
Even in anonymous accounts, the prosecutor's office can make IP address query through BTK and request user information from the operator. Information is requested through official judicial assistance (MLAT) from platforms such as Twitter / Meta / TikTok.
Approach of the 4th and 18th Criminal Chambers of the Supreme Court of Appeals
In its established decisions, the 4th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals stated that the screenshots, which are "intelligent guesses", are just evidence and should be confirmed with BTK logs. A screenshot alone is not enough for a conviction.
The 18th Criminal Chamber emphasizes that in order for the insult on social media to be considered committed "publicly", the content must be accessible to everyone, and that posts made in closed groups will be evaluated differently.
Compensation Cases
A lawsuit for material and moral damages may be filed in parallel with the criminal case (TBK Art. 49 et seq.). The amount of compensation is determined according to the prevalence of the action, the position of the victim and the severity of the violation.
Court in Charge
- Penalty: Criminal Court of First Instance
- Compensation: Civil Court of First Instance
- Access blocking: Criminal Court of Peace
Social media insult/slander/threat files require rapid evidence collection and technical follow-up; Getting support from a lawyer experienced in the field of internet law is critical for effective results.