Presidential Communications Director Prof. Dr. Fahrettin Altun attended the 2nd News Coverage and Artificial Intelligence in Media Symposium held in Istanbul. Making a speech here, Altun said that their aim is to prevent the original contents prepared by reporters, journalists and press workers with great effort and dedication from being used for commercial purposes without paying for them. Stating that their other aim is to eliminate unfair competition that occurs when the content produced by publishers is used free of charge, Altun said, “In this regard, to contribute to the preparation of the necessary environment for the necessary legislation to protect the copyright of press news content as soon as possible. Real news production is laborious, costly and labor-intensive.” For example, Anadolu Agency’s journalism during the pandemic, its reporting performance in the Russia-Ukraine War, or the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza. The struggle for truth in Gaza should not be treated as ‘a simple factual data sharing activity’. It is very clear that the news texts, which are compiled with information compiled from the field, with effort and sweat, at the expense of their lives, cannot be deprived of copyright on the grounds of their factual context. I would like to emphasize that the news text is a work that must be protected by copyright. This is a reality that is valid for both the analog media era and the digital media era. In fact, in this digital media-communication eco-system we are in, the issue of copyright protection of news has become much more important and urgent than in the analog media era. Because today we see that original news content can be easily and quickly circulated without permission. This situation reduces the revenues of media organizations that produce original content, thus damaging the business models of our media. Unfortunately, Western digital media companies, social media platforms and technology giants gain unfair profits from this situation, and moreover, an unfair competition environment is clearly created in the media sector. It is clear that this trend must be stopped.
We are trying to express this truth as much as we can on every platform. “Today, humanity is struggling with a justice problem on a global level, and one of the main dynamics that deepen this justice crisis is media imperialism and digital fascism, which the whole world is dealing with,” he said.
“IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR A MODERN DIGITAL COPYRIGHT LAW TO ENTER INTO FORCE”
Stating that Western media companies are spreading global injustice and trying to institutionalize it, Altun said, “For this very reason, inter-communal communication occurs asymmetrically and does not appear as a relationship between equals. The Western media companies we are talking about, social media platforms, original news contents, especially those around the world.” They exploit information resources and earn huge revenues by distributing these contents in the formats they want. As you know, copyrights in Turkey, including journalism, are subject to Article 5846, which came into force in 1952. It is protected under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 1. It is essential for the future of journalism, as well as for the protection of truth and real news, that this law be updated as soon as possible, or more precisely, that a modern Digital Copyright Law should come into force in the already digitalized media sector in our country. It is on the agenda to make a law that will allow publishers to generate income for these activities and regulate copyrights in line with the European Union acquis. Technical studies for the regulation in question; It is maintained with the contributions of stakeholders such as the Presidential Directorate of Communications, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Competition Authority and the Press Advertisement Agency. Taking the necessary steps to protect the copyright of news content will, above all, serve the development and deepening of real journalism and the strengthening of the journalism profession. The exploitation of our media organizations and news agencies by Western social media companies will end. We are faced with exploitation. And those who carry out this exploitation are Western social media platforms and large technology companies. It is our news agencies that are exploited. It is our media organizations that produce real news. If the copyright of the news is protected, ethical codes of conduct in the media will be strengthened. “And moreover, a significant gain will be achieved in the process of fighting against fake news and disinformation given by each of our citizens, our society, our state and our country,” he said.
“The active role played by artificial intelligence on the media covers a wide range”
Stating that social, political, military and technological developments necessitate new legal regulations, Altun said, “In the age we live in, technological transformation, which progresses at a dizzying pace, is reshaping our media and communication world. The innovations brought by the digital age lead to radical changes in the world of communication, the structure of the media and its functioning is radically transforming. One of the most important components of this transformation is undoubtedly artificial intelligence. Today, the active role played by artificial intelligence in the media covers a wide range from access to information to content production. It is used in many areas such as personalization and even determining advertisements for target audiences. However, the effects of this technology do not only facilitate business processes. Yes, we face new risks and threats as well as productivity, time saving, cost and marketing. and innovative advertising markets, on the other hand; It brings risks and challenges such as privacy, surveillance, deepfake and disinformation. We approach artificial intelligence technologies with this awareness and cautious optimism, and I especially underline, ‘it is the use of artificial intelligence in the name of truth.’ The most important risk in the new media order evolving with artificial intelligence is that click-oriented news texts turn into references and sensational or disinformation news are circulated uncontrollably instead of original texts, in other words, the fake takes precedence over the truth. “On the other hand, the impact of artificial intelligence technologies on media is not limited to content production and dissemination.”
“THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE MEDIA MUST BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND TRANSPARENCY”
Stating that, as everyone knows, the media is an indispensable element for democracy with its function of informing the society and forming public opinion, Altun said, “This is exactly why the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the media field must comply with the principles of social justice and transparency.
I would especially like to underline that all units of our Directorate of Communications prioritize a human-oriented perspective that considers social benefit, with the awareness that it would be a big mistake to ignore the effects of artificial intelligence on society. In this context, today, when many international actors are trying to ensure accountability in the digital world, as the Directorate of Communications, with each of our employees and units; I would like you to know that we will continue to support efforts in the strongest possible way to maintain professional and quality journalism, provide society with access to qualified and accurate information, and prevent unfair competition in digital media. Of course, it is beyond explanation that, with artificial intelligence technologies, the issue of copyright of news content has become a more serious challenge day by day. Although current laws strive to protect the financial rights of authors, it is still unclear who will own the copyright of the product created by artificial intelligence based on the text of the same author. What is certain is that as AI tools continue to develop, it will become more difficult to distinguish between human and AI-generated content. The way to overcome this difficulty is to always be on the alert for new questions under the copyright heading. Finally, I would like to point out that international cooperation is also very important in the process of updating existing copyright laws. “As the Directorate of Communications, the agreements we have made with 22 different countries in the field of communication and media are a concrete manifestation of our international cooperation approach that we have adopted in solving these problems,” he said.
(AA)