Investigative journalists have traditionally served as a powerful check on government abuse of power and corruption. With traditional print media under threat worldwide, many have looked to social media to fill that void. Whether social media companies can withstand the political pressure this will prompt remains unclear, but chances are improved by more and greater transparency directed at exactly these issues. The role of in-house counsel in these issues is as novel as it is fundamental.

These issues are currently in motion in Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been embroiled for months in a corruption scandal. His response has been heavy-handed. He retaliated against police officers and prosecutors—effectively holding captive the key investigative units of the justice system. Social media sites like Twitter and YouTube enabled reporters to leak information to the public, circumventing traditional media outlets that are more susceptible to government censorship, until Erdogan ordered Twitter’s site blocked. The country’s highest court forced him to lift the block; however, it issued several follow-on demands, including that Twitter reveal the identities of those posting leaks from a continuing corruption investigation. Various governments worldwide, including that of the United States, have made similar requests for online account information in the past, with Twitter giving up at least some user information in many of those cases. Although Twitter seems unlikely to cooperate with Turkey’s politically charged request for user identifications, it has agreed to prevent certain posts from being visible in Turkey and appointed a local representative to handle remaining open issues.

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