The regulation, named “Procedures and Principles Regarding the Safe Use of the Internet,” brings four compulsory filtering options to Turkey´s Internet users, who will have to pick one of them. The filters are “family,” “child,” “domestic (inland)” and “standard.” The criteria by which websites will be filtered will be determined by the BTK. Circumventing these measures will be considered a crime and anyone doing so or attempting to do so will face heavy fines. Many websites are expected to be blocked by the filters irrespective of their content.
Similar measures attempting to control access to cyberspace are used in other countries, including China, Cuba and Iran, all notorious for Internet censorship. Arda Kutsal, owner of the popular blog webrazzi.com, argues in an article that the BTK move rivals China´s Golden Shield Project, aka the Great Firewall of China, a censorship and surveillance project carried out by the Ministry of Public Security of the government of the People´s Republic of China.
The issue of Internet censorship was already brought to public attention when a list of forbidden words was earlier announced as part of the regulations.
The news sparked a nationwide outcry as media reports on Tuesday referred to the date when the regulations will come into effect as the “death of the Internet.” Shortly after reports on the “death of the Internet” came out, Aug. 22 (22 Ağustos, in Turkish) became one of the hottest topics in Turkey and worldwide in social media.
Civil society has already launched campaigns against the new regulations. A website, imza.la, has started a campaign under the name “No to Aug. 22 Internet Coup” while thousands of people have joined events on Facebook protesting the filters.
In the meantime, the IPS Communication Foundation-Independent Communications Network (Bianet) filed a suit at the Council of State in April in order to stop the implementation of the new BTK regulations affecting access to the Internet. The foundation states in its petition that the new regulations lack legal grounds and limit without oversight basic rights and freedoms that are accepted by the Constitution and international conventions. The BTK has not yet issued a statement about the ongoing discussions.
|