![]() “This is an unprecedented attempt to control the online information space in Turkey,” said Professor Yaman Akdeniz, a Turkish cyberlaw expert, who has taken cases over previous bans on YouTube and Wikipedia to Turkey’s constitutional court. This, however, is not how Turkey’s beleaguered opposition politicians, lawyers and human rights groups see it. Özlem Zengin, a legislator for the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), said when the bill passed in July that the new law sought to “put an end to insults, swearing and harassment made through social media”, acknowledging that the new measures would have to balance different freedoms. The law also allows courts to order Turkish news websites to remove content within 24 hours, which would allow the government to comb through old stories to erase anything unfavourable. If the social media giants do not comply six months after the law goes into effect on Thursday (1 October), Turkish authorities will be able to ban advertising on the platforms, levy steep fines of up to £4m and throttle the sites’ bandwidth by up to 90%, effectively making them unusable. Photograph: APĬompanies or their representatives are then required to respond within 48 hours to complaints about posts that “violate personal and privacy rights”, and international companies would be required to store user data inside Turkey. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan applauds lawmakers in Istanbul in July before voting on the social media bill. The new legislation compels social media companies with more than a million daily users in Turkey – such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google – to establish a formal presence in the country by opening an office or assigning an in-country representative who is accountable to the Turkish authorities, both legally and for tax purposes. A new law rushed through parliament this summer and coming into force this week marks a significant step up in Ankara’s efforts to control online content. Thousands of people are arrested for online posts every year in Turkey, usually over allegations of insulting Turkey, Turkishness or the president, or for supporting terrorism. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has steadily consolidated control over traditional media during his 17 years in office, making social media channels the primary platforms for critics of the government and alternative news organisations. Even using the Kurdish name for something is used as evidence against you,” said journalist Nurcan Baysal, who has also been arrested several times for Twitter posts. The internet is a place where the push and pull between Turkey’s liberal and authoritarian poles is keenly felt: social media sites are not banned but using them can land you in jail. ![]() He could now face two years in prison.Ĭandemir’s story is a particularly bizarre example of the capricious and heavy-handed ways Turkish law is applied to the digital realm. ![]() After a night at the local police station in Van, Candemir was released on bail. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |