KÜHEYLAN HUKUK
The Guideline under Press Law No. 5187, Law Amendments No. 7418 and Press Announcement Authority Law No. 195 was prepared on the basis of legislation in force as of 2026 and official sources dated November 2026.
By Law No. 7418, Internet news sites from 18.10.2022 are accepted as periodicals under Press Law No. 5187. In order for a site to gain this status, the place of administration must be declared to the public prosecutor's office, a responsible director must be appointed who meets the legal requirements, and the tag information should be published on the home page in an accessible manner. Its status provides assurances such as an official advertisement and receiving advertising, a press card for employees, and a four-month filing period. In contrast, it also imposes obligations such as two years of storage of content, the publication of reply and correction text within a day, and the display of content dates in an irrevocable form.
What Does Internet News Site Mean Legally?
2 of the Press Law. According to subparagraph (m) of the article, the internet news site is a periodical publication established and operated in order to present written, visual or auditory content in the form of news or commentary at certain intervals on the Internet. Paragraph (c) of the same article clearly counts Internet news sites among periodicals. With this regulation, internet journalism has long been subject to the general content provider regime of Law No. 5651 and is in the same legal framework as newspapers and magazines.
A site that does not issue a declaration may continue to publish news; however, it is not legally considered an internet news site and cannot exercise the rights provided by this status. The guarantee of not being forced to disclose the source of the news (m.12), the duration of litigation in the Press Law (m.26), the right to an official advertisement and a press card are valid only for periodicals that have issued an affidavit in accordance with procedure.
What Steps Are Followed for Establishment?
Press Law 7. According to the article, it is sufficient to file an affidavit with the public prosecutor's office where the place of administration is located in order to issue the periodical; there is also no permit or license required. The declaration is signed by the publisher (representative in legal persons) and includes the name of the publication and its nature, publication range, management location, owner's, representative's and responsible director's names and addresses, type of publication and electronic notification address.
Documents showing the existence of the terms regarding the director and publisher in charge of the declaration, and a copy of the original contract is added to the publishing owner's legal entity. The Attorney General shall issue a receipt showing the surrender. This document is the basic document requested in future applications by the Press Office and the Directorate of Communications.
The director in charge (m.5) must have reached the age of eighteen, reside and reside permanently in Turkey, be at least a secondary school graduate, are not restricted or banned from public service, and should not be convicted of disgraceful crimes. Reciprocity requirement is sought for foreigners. If the responsible director leaves office, responsibility will be passed to the publisher until the new one is appointed (m.8).
What is the mandatory information that the site must carry?
4 of the Press Law. According to the article, the place of administration on the internet news site is shown with the names of the publisher, its representative if any, and the type of publication with the director in charge. According to the jokes added by Law No. 7418, the workplace address, commercial title, electronic mail address, contact phone, electronic notification address and place provider's name and address must be included under an "communication" that can be directly accessed from the home page.
The date on which each content was first published and subsequent update dates must be specified above the content in such a way that it does not change with each access. This rule aims to make it easier to prevent interventions made by changing the date afterwards and to calculate case durations. Failure to display or contradict mandatory information, 15 of the Act. Pursuant to the article, the responsible director and the authority he is affiliated with have been subject to fine sanctions.
Contents retention: Content published on the Internet news site is stored for two years, with its accuracy and integrity ensured to be delivered to the requested public prosecutor's office. If a publication has been notified in writing that it is the subject of investigation or prosecution, registration must be kept until the proceedings are concluded (m.10). Violation of this obligation is subject to sanctions pursuant to Art. 17.
Answer and correction: The responsible director must publish within one day at the latest from the date when the injured person receives the correction and reply text, provided that the URL link is provided on the page of the relevant publication, with the same punts and without any additions. If the content is out of the air due to an access barrier or spontaneous removal, the text will be published for a week, with the first twenty-four hours on the main page (m.14).
Protection of identity: publications under the age of eighteen that explain the identities of crime perpetrators or victims, and publications that exceed the limits of reporting in incidents such as suicide and murder, have been linked to higher sub-limited fines for Internet news sites (m.20, m.21).
What happens in the state of deficiency?
If the declaration or appendices are incomplete or contrary to fact, the attorney general's office requests that the deficiency be resolved within two weeks. If the request is not met within two weeks, the attorney general's office shall appeal to the criminal court of first instance (m.8) to determine that the internet news site qualification has not been earned. Unlike newspapers and magazines, there is no publication-stopping sanction for internet news sites. If the application is accepted, the site's official advertisement and advertising and employees' rights to the press card are eliminated.
Additional requirement for official advertisement Number of news, content, staff, number of readers, duration of publication (195 s.K. m.35/A)
Event Summary Form: Fictional example: Two journalists have opened a site that publishes local news by establishing a limited company. The site has been on the air for a year; however, the attorney general's office has not been declared, with only one email address on the tag page. The company wants to get an official ad and issue press cards to its employees. Process: The declaration was signed by the company representative and the journalist appointed as the responsible director, and delivered to the attorney general's office with a diploma of the responsible director, a criminal record, and a settlement document added to the company's principal contract. The tag page of the Act 4. The content management system is structured to show dates in an irrevocable way. Conclusion: With the retrieved document, the site gains internet news site status. The application for a press card depends on the minimum number of insured employees in the Press Card Regulation. The right to an official advertisement also requires that the number of news, staff and readership criteria set by the General Assembly of the Press Office be met and the waiting period completed.
Does a personal blog or YouTube channel count as an internet news site?
Not unless the declaration is given. Visual and auditory publications may also require a RTUK license under Law No. 6112; these two regimes are separate.
Can the responsible manager and the site owner be the same person?
There is no law prohibiting it. The real person who owns the publication, which has legal conditions, can also be cited in the declaration as the responsible director.
Who bears criminal responsibility for a report posted on the site?
As a rule, the author is responsible. If the owner of the work is not clear or cannot be judged, the responsible director and the authority to which he belongs shall be liable (m.11).
How long does the site have to be on the air to get an official ad?
The minimum publication time and other qualifications are determined by the General Assembly of the Press Announcement Agency based on Article 35/A of Law No. 195. Current criteria must also be checked on the application date.
Can the broadcast be delayed after issuing a declaration?
If the publication is not started within one year from the date of the declaration, or if the publication is suspended for three years, the declaration will be void (m.9).
• Responsible director change not to be reported with new declaration within two weeks. • Missing electronic notification address and location provider information on the document page. • The date of publication is overwritten during the update and the date of its first publication is lost. • Not to be backed up in accordance with the archivin two-year retention obligation. • Failure to publish the answer and correction text in one day's time and with a URL link.
Internet news site status is a structure that provides economic and legal assurances to the publisher when installed correctly, but requires constant compliance. Correct design of declaration, tags, archives and tekzip obligations prevents the loss of both criminal risks in the future as well as official advertisement and press card rights. Küheylan Law Office provides legal support for the preparation of founding documents of internet news sites, regulatory compliance audit and publication-related criminal and legal disputes.
Important Legal Notice: The legal statements contained in this guide are prepared by the Küheylan Law Office for general informational purposes and do not qualify as legal counsel. The structure and conditions of each broadcaster can have different results. Legal support from a lawyer is recommended before establishment and application procedures. © 2026 Küheylan Law Office. All Rights Reserved.
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