Obligations of intermediary service providers in electronically established distance sales contracts

As e-commerce has become as common as traditional commerce, it has brought a new dimension to commercial law and consumer protection law. E-commerce offers various advantages to all participants through the convenience, speed and accessibility it provides. This has enabled the establishment of legal transactions between parties who are unable or unwilling to meet in person, by creating an invisible connection between them through the opportunities provided by e-commerce. In these legal transactions, the parties have various rights and obligations towards one another. The obligations arising from distance contracts established by intermediary service providers during e-commerce activities should be examined from multiple aspects. In e-commerce marketplaces, intermediary service providers establish certain legal transactions with both sellers or providers and buyers in the position of consumers. Since these legal transactions are established through distance contracts, it is important to examine the rights and obligations of the parties in this regard. This is because the obligations of intermediary service providers arise both from the purchase and sale contracts they mediate and from their position as marketplace operators. In this regard, the activities and obligations of intermediary service providers operating electronic commerce marketplaces have been examined under five main headings in this study. The obligations of intermediary service providers are derived from distance sales contracts established during e-commerce activities, legislation regulating e-commerce, contracts established between the parties, legislation on commercial communication, and general principles and legislation on the protection of personal data. In this study, which addresses these obligations, it is sought to examine the issue by taking into account not only Turkish law but also the legal regulations of the European Union.