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Written by Dr. Yaman Akdeniz, Associate Professor, Human Rights Law Research Center, Faculty of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University, and Director of Cyber-Rights.Org. (lawya@cyber-rights.org)

Internet censorship is alive and kicking in Turkey with at least 5.000 websites currently being blocked from the country. Some commentators estimate that number to be around 8.000 while the official blocking statistics are currently being kept secret by the Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB).

While YouTube is the most well known example, several websites are blocked for political reasons (including leftist, and pro-Kurdish news websites) outside the scope of the current law. As was documented by a January 2010 Report of the OSCE on Turkey and Internet Censorship news sites such as Atilim, Özgür Gündem, Keditör, Günlük Gazetesi, and Firat News Agency are blocked indefinitely by the courts. The website of El Mundo, a Spanish newspaper is also currently blocked from Turkey because of a single video clip deemed to be illegal.

In June 2010 the situation in terms of Internet censorship has moved from bad to worse in Turkey as 44 IP addresses jointly used by YouTube and Google were initially blocked by the Telecommunications Communication Presidency, and then by the Ankara’s 1st Criminal Court of Peace. The reason behind the IP address blocking was to make it even harder to access YouTube from Turkey (which was already blocked since May 2008) but the IP blocking paralyzed access to numerous Google related services such as Analytics, Translate, Docs, Books, Map, and Earth. The author of this article together with a fellow academic, Dr. Kerem Altiparmak appealed against the decision of the Court arguing that the blocking of Google related services had no legal basis, remains unlawful, and is regarded as a serious infringement on freedom of speech, and too far-reaching than reasonably necessary in a democratic society. That appeal has been dismissed by the Court and the decision of the Court is final. Having exhausted all the available national remedies an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is imminent.

So, we marched to protest…
Internet users are known to be glued to their computers and their keyboards, and so far protests have been through Facebook groups, Twitter, and through the popular FriendFeed social network. However, a protest walk was organized by a web based organization called March Against Censorship, and the Istanbul Mayor’s Office was notified by EMO – The Chamber of Electrical Engineers. The whole protest march was organized in less than 10 days but there was lot of media coverage prior to the protest, and social media platforms were extensively used to raise the profile of the event.

Despite it was a weekend day, and really hot, approximately 2000 persons marched against government censorship of the Internet on Saturday, the 17th of July, 2010. The first ever protest march involving Internet censorship started in the popular Taksim Square while the protestors carried a banner that stated “Censorship-free Internet”.

The one hour long march included demonstrators from several civil society organizations, and Internet groups including Cyber-Rights.Org.TR (run by the author of this article), Young Civilians, ‘Sansüre Sansür’ (Censor Censorship), ‘Sansüre Karşı Ortak Platform’ (Joint Platform against Censorship), the satirical Penguen Magazine, Turkish Netizen movement, and INETD – the Internet Technologies Association. Demonstrators had whistles, portable music systems and tambourines.

Several exciting banners coloured the march including “Do not click on our freedom,” “Censorship protects you from the truth,” “Do not touch my porn”, “This placard has been banned by a court order”, “Say no to censorship on political websites,” and “Censorship offends me”.

The anti-censorship protest march ended in the Galatasaray square with a press declaration that called for the abolishment of Law No. 5651 entitled Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publication which forms the basis of the Turkish Internet Censorship Infrastructure.

The demonstrators demanded unrestricted Internet access from the government in the name of freedom of speech and freedom of information. The members of the Joint Platform against Censorship announced that there will be several protest events including marches at the capital city of Ankara, and in Izmir, the third biggest city in Turkey. It remains to be seen whether the government will listen but certainly the users raised their voice, this time in the streets rather than in front of their keyboards.

Posted in Parental Control News No Comments Tags: blocking and filtering, censorship, Google, Turkey, yaman akdeniz, youtube

Approximately 2000 persons marched against government censorship of the Internet on Saturday, the 17th of July, 2010. The protest march started in the popular Taksim Square and ended in the Galatasaray square with a press declaration that called for the abolishment of Law No. 5651 which forms the basis of the Turkish Internet Censorship Infrastructure.

I was on the frontline with fellow civil society representatives and the participation to the protest was better than we expected. Media presence was also brilliant and both local and international press representatives followed the protest march. (Dr. Yaman Akdeniz)

Posted in Parental Control News No Comments Tags: blocking and filtering, censorship, Turkey, yaman akdeniz, youtube

Bianet: Deputy Governor Had Website Banned

A Şanlıurfa court decided to ban access to the Sanlıurfa.com website due to articles and reader comments criticizing Deputy Governor Yıdıray Malğaç. Assoc. Prof. Dr Akdeniz said the decision was a breach of the law.

Erol ÖNDEROĞLU – hukuk@bianet.org
şanlıurfa – BİA News Center
15 July 2010, Thursday

Access to the Şanlıurfa.com internet site has been banned because of news related to the Deputy Governor of Şanlıurfa, Yıldıray Malğaç, and referring reader comments. The 1st Civil Court of First Instance of Şanlırurfa in south-eastern Turkey decided to take precautionary measures on 2 July. An appeal against the access ban filed ten days later was dismissed.

The decision was based on Article 24 of the Civil Law (No. 4721) on attacks on personal rights. Court President Judge İbrahim Balkan dismissed the appeal filed by Muhammet Taşçılar reasoning that he was not the owner of the site and did not any authority for the website.

Akdeniz: A clear breach of the law

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaman Akdeniz from the Law School of Bilgi University in Istanbul evaluated the situation for bianet: ‘The court’s decision of the access ban is entirely contrary to the law. It cannot be accepted that this site, which contains political statements, is censored in an unlawful manner. Freedom of the press and the media cannot be restricted. It must not be restricted by courts’.

Akdeniz indicated that Article 9 of Law No. 5651 on Internet Crimes provides a guideline how to resolve problems related to ‘personal rights’. He criticized that the web site should not have been closed.

Criticism of Deputy Governor forbidden

The censorship was caused by an article entitled ‘Malğaç silent and cowering’ published on the website on 25 March 2010. The article read, ‘Deputy Governor Yıldıray Malğaç made a statement last week. He created confusion in the public when he said that the TL 1.5 billion spent in the last year were met by various sources’. Subject to the decision were furthermore two reader comments, one of them written by the news site official, Metin Çinar, who said, ‘This is Mr Malğaç’s dilemma; those expenditures were not met by the Social Aid Foundation, were they?’ The other comment referred to an article published on 9 February, saying, ‘Shame on Malğaç; Mr Malğaç meddled around a lot, it will explode soon. We beg the Governor. You should check the signatures under some of the tenders, they are signed by his proponents’.

The decision was also based on a reader comment by Ali Kıran sent on 23 May 2010. He wrote, ‘He struggled with everybody, with the tea vendor, the manager, the governor, the press. He was harsh with people, luckily he is leaving. Anyhow, he created this discomfort against the possibility of being remembered positively. What is written on this site is not very normal. This is what people do if you step on their feet’.

In another comment sent on 24 May 2010, it was said, ‘Mr. Governor, I am following what has been said about you on this site. You looked down to everybody. Now everybody is talking about you at the last moment. You should have been a man of the people. You became the governor. In the end, you are a human being, our graves will be the same. I wish you good luck for the place you will be going to in the other world. I hope you will not look down on people at the place where you are going to. The people are not your slaves’.

On 23 May, another comment was entitled ‘Enough Mr. Mağlaç!!!’ and said ‘This Mağlaç, he finished in Urfa and made the Governor’s mother cry’. (EÖ/VK)

Posted in Parental Control News No Comments Tags: blocking and filtering, censorship, Turkey, yaman akdeniz

Turkish group opens court case over Google services | Reuters

Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:48am EDT

* Thousands of websites blocked in Turkey

* Turkey asking Google for $20 million in taxes

* Row sparks questions over freedom of speech

By Thomas Grove

ISTANBUL, June 28 (Reuters) – A Turkish Internet rights group opened a court case on Monday to end what it says are illegal restrictions on Google services, the latest step in a debate over Internet freedom in Turkey.

Turkey has clashed with Google before and closed down Google’s (GOOG.O) video sharing platform YouTube in 2008 for videos it said insulted the country’s revered founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Internet advocates say efforts to limit access to the video website have caused illegal restrictions on other Google services such as Google Maps and Google Analytics.

‘Millions of Internet users and thousands of companies that use Google services have been victimised,’ said the Internet Technologies Association in a statement sent to the court.

The group says access to Google services has slowed down and in some cases became unavailable after Google Internet Protocol (IP) addresses were blocked in an attempt to hinder access to other websites.

The Internet Technology Association opened a court case against Turkey last year at the European Court of Human Rights over the banning of YouTube, one of thousands of Internet sites that are closed in Turkey, a European Union candidate country.

Turkey wants Google to open an office in Turkey and says the Internet giant owes some $20 million in taxes from revenues generated from the video site.

‘(YouTube) has entered a fight with the Turkish Republic,’ said Communications Minister Binali Yildirim last week.

‘No matter how much of a fuss is made, we will not bow our heads,’ he said in parliament.

Google representatives in Turkey did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

Turkey’s AK Party government says it has broadened the scope of public debate since taking power in 2002. But curbs on websites have raised concerns. Freedom of speech reforms have ground to a halt in recent years, while the number of closed Internet sites has risen.

As of May 2009 nearly 3,000 Internet sites were closed, according to Turkey’s information technology watchdog, though advocacy groups put the number nearer 5,000.

‘There is no one here in Turkey that makes the effort to protect freedom of expression, there are 60,000 different videos about Turkey in YouTube, and ten have been found to be insulting,’ said Mustafa Akgul, head of the advocacy group and an Internet expert at Bilkent University in Ankara.

Analysts have criticised the ease with which citizens can apply to have an Internet site closed down, with a form readily available on the information technology board’s website.

Most sites in Turkey closed by court order are due to allegations that they encourage suicide, contain libel, child pornography, help users access drugs or promote prostitution. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Posted in Parental Control News No Comments Tags: blocking and filtering, censorship, Google, Turkey, youtube

Turkey faces legal challenge over YouTube ban | World news | The Guardian

Internet rights group claims restrictions on access to Google-owned sites illegally discriminate against users

* Nichole Sobecki in Istanbul
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 4 July 2010 18.41 BST

The Turkish president, Abdullah Gul. The Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, has spoken out against the ban. Photograph: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

An internet rights group has launched a legal challenge in Turkey over a ban on access to a host of Google-owned sites.

The case, in which the Internet Technologies Association argues that the restrictions illegally discriminate against millions of users, is the latest front in an ongoing dispute that raises questions about free speech in a country attempting to join the EU.

‘It’s an infringement on our fundamental human rights, the freedom of conversations and our right to information,’ said Yaman Akdeniz, an associate professor of law at Istanbul Bilgi University and founder of the thinktank Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties.

Turkey’s censorship of the internet dates back to 2007, when a law was passed to tackle child pornography and websites that encourage suicide, drug use, gambling or prostitution. The law broadened state powers by creating a government office with the authority to shut down websites without a court order.

YouTube was banned in 2008 after a video was posted on the site showing Greek football fans taunting Turks and making claims about the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

But the site still regularly scores among the top 10 most visited in Turkey, largely due to the use of proxy servers to circumvent the ban.

‘Some people call us Atatürk-haters because we want YouTube to be accessible in Turkey,’ said Akdeniz. ‘But things need to change here.’

Ankara has accused Google of ‘waging a battle’ against Turkey and dodging more than £13m in taxes generated from YouTube revenues – a charge that the US internet company has flatly denied.

Binali Yildirim, Turkey’s minister for transport and communications and the most visible figure behind the ban, said: ‘This site has entered a fight with the Turkish Republic, but Turkey will not accept this.’

But there has even been mounting anger over the ban among those in power. This month President Abdullah Gul expressed his opposition in a series of tweets, saying free speech restrictions were preventing Turkey from ‘integrating with the world’. He said he has instructed officials to look into ways to overcome the ban.

Richard Howitt, a British MEP and spokesman for the European parliament’s committee on Turkey, has warned that the ban puts ‘the country alongside Iran, North Korea and Vietnam as one of the world’s worst offenders for cyber censorship’.

Posted in Parental Control News No Comments Tags: blocking and filtering, censorship, Google, Turkey, yaman akdeniz, youtube