May 1, 2023
To: Alex Walden, Global Head of Human Rights, Google
Re: YouTube's efforts in preparation for the upcoming election in Turkey
Dear Ms. Walden,
We hope you’re well. We are writing from Human Rights Watch and ARTICLE 19 to inquire about Google’s operations related to the 2023 Turkish elections and specifically on YouTube.
We anticipate releasing a publication about Turkey’s online environment in the run-up to the elections, including efforts by social media platforms and messaging apps, like YouTube, to prepare for the elections.
In the interest of thorough and objective reporting, we want to give you the opportunity to respond to the following questions by 5pm EST on May 4, 2023 so that we can incorporate Google’s response and perspectives.
1. Has Google already issued a statement on its efforts around Turkey’s election?
2. What specific steps has Twitter taken to ensure that the following policies can be enforced in the context of the Turkish election:
a. YouTube Elections Misinformation Policies
b. YouTube Civic Engagement policy
c. YouTube’s detailed policy on misinformation
3. Did Google conduct a human rights impact assessment ahead of the elections? If so, we would like to request a copy of this assessment or, in the alternative, a summary of its substantive findings.
4. How many Google/YouTube staff or contractors are participating in integrity efforts around Turkey’s elections? How can people and organizations in Turkey get in touch with the relevant teams to raise concerns on Google/YouTube around the elections?
5. Generally, how many content moderators work on Turkey? How many are native in Turkish and other languages spoken widely by minorities in Turkey (please provide a break down based on individual languages)? How many human rights policy experts support YouTube users in Turkey? How does YouTube ensure the political independence of staff and contractors working on Turkey?
6. How will Google/YouTube respond to threats of throttling and other sanctions introduced by the most recent legislative changes when responding to content takedown and user data access requests? Do you have a contingency plan in the event of throttling during the election period?
7. Has YouTube’s Election integrity policy prohibiting content advancing false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in specific past elections or content that claims certified results are false been applied to any previous elections in Turkey? What plans does Google/YouTube have in place plans to address the potential of multiple and conflicting announcements of the outcome of the vote and allegations of fraud?
8. Is Google/YouTube in touch with independent election monitoring groups like Oy ve Otesi (Vote and Beyond)?
9. Has Google complied with the October 2022 requirement to have a local subsidiary of your global company with 100 million Turkish lira in capital?
Thanks in advance for your attention to our questions and feel free to provide any other information you wish.
Sincerely,
Barbora Bukovská, Senior Director for Law and Policy, ARTICLE 19
Frederike Kaltheuner, Director for Technology and Human Rights, Human Rights Watch
