The opening program of the project "Media Literacy in the Digital Age" which targets Turkish youth in Europe was held with the participation of Director of Communications Prof. Fahrettin Altun, by the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA).
In the program organized via videoconference, Fahrettin Altun stated that Turkey was confronted with a war of attrition in recent years with the increase in its political, military, economic and human power.
Explaining that the different aspects of this war of attrition were experienced from the coup attempt to street revolts, from the economic attacks to terrorist acts, Fahrettin Altun indicated that Turkey was advancing towards its goals under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan without submitting to any pressure.
Fahrettin Altun indicated that, as Turkey continued its steady march, these malicious activities that constituted an extension of the war of attrition aimed at undermining the global image of the country accelerated. Altun also drew attention to the point that a significant portion of the attacks targeting Turkey's reputation was carried out through the channels of conventional or digital media.
Fahrettin Altun said, “In this case, each of us has important responsibilities regarding the effective use of all media channels. We should all fight against the fraud and lies aimed at our country and support positive communication campaigns in favour of our nation.”
“Digital media literacy is the antidote for digital fascism”
Noting that the analysis process called “media literacy” in communication literature was also crucial in the digital field, Fahrettin Altun said, “Digital media literacy can be considered the antidote for digital fascism, disinformation and perception management operations.”
Fahrettin Altun indicated the social media, which offers its users the opportunity to reach a broad audience, receive information, provide information and produce content, was also capable of causing information pollution as a result of the uncontrolled dissemination of disinformative news and content, and it could even be used for malicious acts such as hate speech and perception management operations.
Stressing the need to be vigilant against disinformation and perception management operations on the social media platforms that can be used as instruments to inflict harm on an individual, group, institution, state or religion, Fahrettin Altun said, “In a period of escalating xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe, it is vital that our young people are more vigilant against misinformation and fabricated news. For instance, the use of “French type Islam” provocations and caricature outrage for manipulation on social media by the French state to forge a negative perception has aggravated the disinformation in this field. It is essential that we are wary of this and fight against it.”
“Turkey is fighting for the truth on the digital medium too”
Describing the current period as the post-truth era, in which lies and fiction outweigh the truth and reality, Fahrettin Altun said, “We are going through a period when the malicious elements are waging war against the truth. We must fight for the truth with all our means in the face of forgery and instigation. With the principle “long live the truth”, we are fighting for the righteousness and clean information on the digital medium as in all other fields, and we will continue to do so.
“Digital ghettoization is used operationally to manipulate societies”
Fahrettin Altun stated that users sharing the same or similar ideas created a “digital bell-jar” in the digital communication world, and went on to note the following:
“I call this “digital ghettoization”. Large platforms use these bell-jars, ghettos operationally on a discriminative basis to manipulate societies in critical times. It is called an “echo room” in the literature when people adopt opinions similar to theirs without questioning, disregard different opinions and believe that only their ideas are correct. It is an element of war against the truth that the digital ghettos speak from within their bell-jars and reproduce so-called realities built on factitious perceptions. Perception management operations are the outcomes of disinformative posts and this echo room effect in the post-truth era.”
We struggle against digital fascism and colonialism resolutely”
Indicating that "cyber homeland" and "cybersecurity" issues should be underscored with due sensitivity in the digital world, Fahrettin Altun noted the following:
“According to the texts of international law, the ‘principle of sovereignty of states’ also applies in cyberspace. We fight against digital fascism and colonialism resolutely also within our digital borders. Despite all the actors of this war of attrition and their representatives in our country, we maintain our struggle. We also strive to protect the sovereignty of our country and its citizens on the digital medium. As a result of the social media regulation we implemented within this framework, social media companies have recently started opening their offices in Turkey. A new definition as social network providers has been introduced into the law with new provisions under Law No. 5651. Social network providers are expected to comply with these new obligations with the new regulation in effect.”
"The importance of national technologies is better grasped”
Recalling that Personal Data Protection Board has launched an ex officio investigation into the application over the transfer of data to abroad and basic principles following its decision to "share user information", Altun stated, "The importance of national technologies is better grasped with increasing awareness regarding the protection of personal data". In the face of double standards on personal data, the increase in the tendency towards national platforms such as BiP and Yaay is a positive development."
Fahrettin Altun made the following assessment:
“It is evident that a serious investment needs to be made in domestic and national platforms. As of today, we have seen how urgent this need is. Because it has been realized that these digital platforms are not actually an impartial medium, as we have been told. Each of them is a subject behind which holdings and media giants stand, and they are parties to issues related to politics and economy for certain. Even though these platforms reflect themselves as a referee rather than a player by hiding their subjectivity, we have seen how prejudiced and biased these platforms can be, and they can intervene in political and social issues on some occasions. So these platforms, these technologies are not platforms that can be legitimized by saying ‘neutral, transcultural, universal or global’. We see that these platforms can also act on behalf of their names and accounts in any event.
Therefore, we need to strengthen domestic and national communication platforms that will operate on the digital medium. In this sense, we have successful initiatives. These initiatives need to become more qualified, and their numbers need to increase. For this reason, the investment that the business world will make in this area is crucial. It's not just a burden for the public to bear. The investment of the private sector to be made in this area is extremely valuable from the point of view of Turkey's destiny, the peace in the political sphere, maintaining democracy and stability, building a healthier economic space.”
