Internet blocking without a court order?
- Written by Portal Editor
The Turkish government is planning sweeping changes to internet legislation that will give it the right to block websites without a court order.
The draft law also gives the authorities the right to record the surfing habits of Internet users and store them for two years.
Internet expert and lawyer Mehmet Ali Köksal told the newspaper "Evrensel" that the planned new regulations were unconstitutional. The Association of Turkish IT Engineers accused the government of not wanting to accept freedom of expression on the Internet. Critics described the bill as a step into censorship.
Last week, a court in Turkey blocked access to the popular video platform Vimeo. The website could no longer be accessed on Friday and was blocked by a brief reference to a court judgment that had already been passed on Wednesday. In addition to Vimeo, the IAC operates InterActiveCorp, including travel portals such as TripAdvisor, Expedia and hotels.com. Blocks have been ordered several times in recent years, which also affected YouTube.
Does the conservative Islamic government want more control over the Internet, or is the law intended to protect young people and their families, as stated?
Hürriyet describes the government's goal of the draft with the following sentence: "To protect families, children and young people from elements on the Internet that promote drug addiction, sexual abuse and suicide".
The spokesman for Prime Minister Erdoğan's ruling AKP, Hüseyin Çelik, denied that Turkey was aiming for censorship like in China. “Turkey is not China and will never become like China in this regard. Don't we all agree that some social media and internet media laws are needed?” asked Çelik. "Everywhere in the world there are regulations based on global standards."
During the protests last year, internet platforms had become the most important source of information because radio and newspapers had practically stopped reporting about them at times.
A court order is still needed to block a website in Turkey!
Turkish draft law allows bans and espionage
The Turkish parliament has now received a draft law that would allow the Turkish state to censor, control and monitor the Internet. The text provides for compulsory membership in an Internet Union for network providers, which will be placed under government control.
This gives the Erdoğan government the power to block websites, monitor user behaviour and document it for a period of two years. In this way, political activities could also be followed, for example in social networks, which the Turkish prime minister is already targeting in the run-up to the elections.
However, the trend towards Internet censorship is a logical step on the part of the government to limit the diversity of opinion. It is similar in intent and result to the practice of imprisoning freelance journalists.
The internet has been filtered in Turkey since November 22, 2011. You can choose between the filter packages “Children” and “Family”. The system is controlled by BTK. Those who do not choose between these options are automatically assigned a "standard profile" that is in line with the recently adopted filters.
Pirate Party declares solidarity with Korsan Parti
The German Pirate Party is more than just concerned about developments in Turkey that are hostile to fundamental rights. With a far-reaching draft law, the Turkish government is taking another step to suppress diversity of opinion. If the new law is passed, websites can be censored and online usage behaviour recorded and stored for two years without a legal review.
»In view of the deep restrictions on fundamental rights that have recently been observed in Turkey, I am appalled by the recent initiative by Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan. The ability to completely record the usage behaviour of people using the Internet and to block websites without a court order restricts people in a way that is incompatible with human rights. The Turkish pirates can therefore count on my support and that of the Pirate Party.« assures Björn Niklas Semrau, Political Director of the Pirate Party Germany.
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