ECtHR: Blocking Google Sites in Turkey breaches human rights

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: [EGMR: Sperre von Google-Seiten in der Türkei verstößt gegen Menschenrechte | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.24_EGMR_Sperre_von_Google-Seiten_in_der_Tuerkei_verstoesst_gegen_Menschenrechte?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121219]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decided on 18 December 2012
that the Turkish Court decision to block the entire Google Sites
breached the Freedom of Expression as foreseen in Article 10 of the
European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

Turkey has a long history of censorship policy regarding Internet
content and blocking of websites. A survey commissioned by OSCE in 2012
has actually shown that the Turkish authorities were able to block the
access to Internet of about 3700 websites, including foreign websites
such as YouTube, Geocities, DailyMotion and Google.

In this case brought to the ECtHR, the applicant had a website hosted by
the Google Sites service, on which he published his academic work and
his opinions on various matters. But Google Sites was blocked entirely
after 23 June 2009 when the Denizli Criminal Court of First Instance
ordered the blocking of an Internet site the owner of which had been
accused of insulting the memory of Atatürk. The order was issued as a
preventive measure in the context of criminal proceedings against the
site’s owner.

The blocking order was submitted for execution to the Telecommunications
Directorate (TİB). Shortly afterwards, the TİB asked the court to extend
the scope of the order by blocking access to Google Sites, which hosted
not only the site in question but also the applicant’s site. The TİB
stated that this was the only technical means of blocking the offending
site, as its owner lived abroad.

The TİB blocked all access to Google Sites and the applicant was thus
unable to access his own site. All his subsequent attempts to remedy the
situation were unsuccessful because of the blocking order issued by the
court. In a letter sent to the Court in April 2012 the applicant stated
that he was still unable to access his own website even though, as far
as he was aware, the criminal proceedings against the owner of the other
site had been discontinued because it was impossible to
determine the identity and address of the accused who lived abroad.

In the Chamber judgement of this case (application
no. 3111/10), the Court held that a violation of Article 10 on Freedom
of Expression has occurred by blocking access to Google Sites which
hosted many sites by its service.

The Court reiterated that a restriction on access to a source of
information was only compatible with the Convention if a strict legal
framework was in place regulating the scope of a ban and affording the
guarantee of judicial review to prevent possible abuses. ECtHr stated
that “there was no indication that the Turkish Criminal Court had made
any attempt to weigh up the various interests at stake, in particular by
assessing whether it had been necessary to block all access to Google
Sites.” The Turkish courts should have had regard to the fact that such
a measure would render large amounts of information inaccessible, thus
directly affecting the rights of Internet users and having a significant
collateral effect.

The Court also pointed out that Article 10 § 1 of the Convention
stated that the right to freedom of expression applied “regardless of
frontiers”.

“Today’s decision is a wake-up call for states that sweeping blocking
injunctions are a serious violation of free speech on the Internet”
explained Dr. Agnes Callamard, EDRi member ARTICLE 19 Executive Director.

Press release: Restriction of Internet access without a strict legal
framework regulating the scope of the ban and affording the guarantee of
judicial review to prevent possible abuses amounts to a
violation of freedom of expression (18.12.2012)
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng-press/pages/search.aspx?i=003-4202780-4985142#{%22itemid%22:[%22003-4202780-4985142%22]}

Court decision Case 3111/10 – AFFAIRE YILDIRIM c. TURQUIE (only in
French, 18.12.2012)
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-115401#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-115401%22]}

Turkey: Landmark European Court Decision finds blanket Google ban was a
violation of freedom of expression (18.12.2012)
http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/3567/en/turkey:-landmark-european-court-decision-finds-blanket-google-ban-was-a-violation-of-freedom-of-expression

EDRi-gram: How many websites does Turkey block? (2.06.2010)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number8.11/number-websites-blocked-turkey

EDRi-gram: Turkey extends the censorship of YouTube (16.06.2010)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number8.12/turkey-extends-blocking-youtube

EDRi Observer Alternative Informatics Association press release on the
decision (only in Turkish, 18.12.2012)
http://bit.ly/TuL8G6