Defamatory crime committed via social media

The offense of libel in the Turkish Penal Code protects the people's honour and esteem. While human dignity is protected in our constitution and our penal codes, it is a universally protected value too. The concepts of honour and esteem are one of the most important spiritual concepts for human and it is very important for us to prevent violations. Social media: It is the most widely used communication tool used by people with internet access, from all walks of life, from every culture, from all educational levels. The behaviors that are always encountered in the society and that comply with the definition of crime have now been moved to social media and many of the crimes specified in the Turkish Penal Code have become committed with social media. When the offense of defamation was first regulated in the law while it could be committed face-to-face, telegraph, telephone or letter, it has become mostly processed on social media with the advancement of technology and the increase in internet usage. Due to this situation, it is necessary to make regulations in accordance with today's conditions in the law. The way the insult crime is committed via social media includes many differences in terms of collecting the evidence, detecting the criminal, procedure, proof, and material law. This situation causes serious problems in practice.