Violation of Personal Rights in Social Media Posts

1. Introduction: A violation that begins with a “post”

While social media is the visible face of freedom of expression, it can transmit numerous types of violations— attacks on honor and dignity , violation of privacy , disclosure of personal data , damage to commercial reputation , and misuse of visual/audio images— to thousands of people in seconds. This speed means the loss of evidence, the amplification of harm, and the difficulty of compensation. Turkish law offers multi-layered protection through both online (Law No. 5651) and offline (Turkish Civil Code, Turkish Code of Obligations, Turkish Code of Civil Procedure, Turkish Penal Code, and Personal Data Protection Law) tools. This article is structured as an original, uncredited guide to "detection-removal-precautionary measures-compensation" that is directly applicable in legal practice

2. Normative framework: Quick overview

Constitution: Protection of the individual's physical and moral integrity and private life; balance with freedom of expression.
Turkish Civil Code Articles 24-25: Detection, cessation, prevention , and elimination of the consequences of attacks on personal rights (deletion, retraction/response, apology, etc.).
Turkish Code of Obligations, Article 58: Criteria for moral damages; severity of the violation, extent of its spread, fault of the perpetrator, and position of the victim.
5651: Responsibility of content/location/access providers; blocking URL-based access and content removal ; obligations of social network providers regarding representation, response to applications, and implementation.
Turkish Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 389 et seq.: Provisional measures; criteria include the risk of serious harm due to delay and the difficulty in obtaining the right.
Article 400 et seq. of the Turkish Code of Civil Procedure: Evidence gathering; recording the content before it is lost.
Turkish Penal Code: Crimes such as defamation, violation of privacy, unlawful acquisition/dissemination of data, and slander.
KVKK (Law on the Protection of Personal Data): Principles regarding the protection of personal data, special categories of data, applications/complaints, and the "right to be forgotten".

Using these methods together provides multi-channel protection , especially in social media cases .

3. Typology of violations: The most common ones on social media

Insult and defamation: Publicly disseminating derogatory statements, accusations, tagging (#), and mentions to a wider audience.
Violation of privacy: The non-consensual disclosure of a person's family, health, location, private images, or correspondence.
Personal data breach: Sharing of personal data such as Turkish national identity numbers, phone numbers, addresses, health data, children's images, etc.
Image/voice usage and impersonation accounts: Unauthorized use of photos, videos, deepfakes; unauthorized use of names and images in advertising/promotion.
Damage to business reputation: Misleading/incomplete information through "review bombing," competitor-driven content, and waves of fabricated complaints.
The issue of archiving and currency: The fact that an old event, despite being outdated, can be instantly accessed using the recipient's name (the right to be forgotten issue).

the breach threshold, answer these questions:

the statement a fact or a value judgment ? Factual claims must be verifiable.
the victim a public figure ? Then the boundaries of criticism are broader, but insult is still prohibited.
the content up-to-date ? Is it in the public interest? Is less stringent intervention possible (e.g., URL-based blocking)?
What are the reach (reach, likes, shares) and persistence (indexing) of content ?

4. Preserving evidence: “Capture it before it’s erased”

In social media, the most critical step a complete set of evidence :

Take a screenshot : Include the date and time , username , platform , URL/ID , and profile link in the image
a hash (such as SHA256) and archive the files in an immutable way.
Download video/reels as original files ; save EXIF /metadata if possible
Record comments and sharing threads ; schedule quick detection requests for volatile content like "stories."
for evidence gathering (Article 400 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and the technical recording of the evidence with the assistance of an expert witness; the resulting report provides weighty evidence in court.
registered mail/notary public and request the preservation of the logs and the removal of the content.
your reach metrics (views, comments, shares) with documentation; this is valuable in compensation claims.

Practical tip: all correspondence with your access provider/ESB and social network provider in a single file ; the application/process timeline determines the outcome in case of a dispute.

5. Axis 5651: Right to personality and procedures for privacy

5.1. Right to personality (Article 9)

Preliminary application: Notification to the content provider/hosting provider; removal of content or blocking of URL-based access .
Judicial recourse: If no response is received or the request is rejected, to the Magistrates' Court. The principle here proportionality and URL-based targeting; blocking entire sites/domains is possible only in exceptional circumstances.
Implementation: The decision promptly and technically implemented; non-implementation may result in additional sanctions and liability for damages.

5.2. Privacy of private life (Article 9/A)

rapid protection mechanism. In most cases, it is prepared in parallel with Article 9; if the subject private matters, Article 9/A is preferred.
Data such as children's images , health data , and address/location constitutes a strong indication of serious breach ; a direct removal/blocking request will be initiated.

5.3. Obligations of the social network provider

The obligation to have a representative in Turkey , to respond to applications promptly , and to implement judicial decisions without delay .
Failure to comply liability for damages and administrative sanctions.
The principle of mild intervention : In some news articles, a " correction/additional explanation link " solution may be an alternative to direct deletion; however, removal is essential in cases of personal data/privacy breaches .

6. Civil law lawsuit strategy: Determination – Prohibition – Reversal – Compensation

Claims that can be filed in Civil Court/Commercial Court of First Instance based on Articles 24-25 of the Turkish Civil Code :

Detection of the offense: It has been determined that the publication violated personal rights.
Stopping and preventing the attack: Prohibiting resharing, restricting indexing, removing from the archive.
Removal of results: Deletion of content, response/retraction, apology, linked correction.
Moral damages (Turkish Code of Obligations, Article 58): In determining the amount, the style of the offense, its scope, the victim's position, the perpetrator's fault, and their persistence are taken into consideration.
Monetary compensation: Loss of business/customers, contract termination, advertising damages; since proving these claims is difficult, the evidence should be enriched.
Unfair competition (Turkish Commercial Code, Article 54): This can also be categorized under content that damages the reputation of commercial actors.

Application note: The lawsuit petition should chronologically summarize the decisions made/requested under Law No. 5651 and the application process; this summary guides the court in determining proportionate measures and compensation.

7. Provisional injunction (Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 389 et seq.): First stop, then discuss

Conditions:

The risk of the right becoming significantly more difficult or impossible to obtain ,
serious damage if there is a delay .

Examples of concrete measures:

Immediate removal of content from specific URLs .
resharing/reproduction ,
Removing name and surname-related indexes from search results ,
temporary measures and security (e.g., low security/no security).

Caution: The measure must be balanced with freedom of expression; the target should be specific content . Specific URL and keyword- focused restrictions are more reasonable than "general site blocking"

8. Criminal law aspect: Parallel corridor

Insult (Turkish Penal Code Article 125): Subject to complaint; due to its "public" nature, social media may be considered a qualified offense.
Privacy (Article 134 of the Turkish Penal Code) and unlawful acquisition/dissemination of data (Article 136 of the Turkish Penal Code): Cases initiated upon complaint or ex officio.
Defamation (Turkish Penal Code Article 267): Accusation of a crime without concrete factual basis.
Aggravating circumstances: Dissemination through the press/organized action/spreading to a large number of people may increase the penalty.

Strategy: Criminal complaints increase the deterrent effect of civil claims; however, a criminal conviction is not required for compensation . Cases can be handled in parallel.

9. Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) and the right to be forgotten: Search results and archives

personal data protection, social media content constitutes data processing. Analyses of explicit consent, information provided, and legal basis should be conducted.
The right to be forgotten: Content that is outdated or of weak public interest may be highlighted through name and surname searches, potentially causing harm. Deindexing and anonymization/removal from archives can be requested from search engines and platforms.
sensitive personal data (health, children's images, biometric data) is involved, direct removal and administrative sanctions may be considered.

#socialmediaandlaw, criminal law, legal consultancy, Istanbullawyer, personal law, right to personality, civil law, social media, Turkish Penal Code, Supreme Court decisions

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