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The Turkish government tightens its grip over the Internet
On 8 September 2014, the Turkish parliament passed an amendment to the already draconian Internet law. The amendment allows the Turkish Telecommunication Authority (TIB) to block (without a court order) any website that appears to threaten “national security or public order”. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are required to execute the blocking order of the TIB […]
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Internet Governance Forum and Internet Ungovernance Forum
The ninth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 2-5 September. EDRi member Alternative Informatics Association (AIA) submitted four proposals to the IGF, but all of them were rejected. As a result, AIA decided to organise a parallel event, the Internet Ungovernance Forum (IUF). The IUF attracted considerable interest among Internet researchers and activists […]
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Internet Ungovernance Forum – civil society counterbalance to IGF
The ninth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be held on 2-5 September 2014 in Istanbul, with the theme “Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multistakeholder Internet Governance”. Although civil society and activists who are fighting for a free Internet are reassembled in the IGF meetings, governments and corporations have a much larger representation. As an attempt to […]
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Turkish government to acquire a tool to censor social media?
Turkish media reports that the government intends to buy NetClean software to remove unwanted material from Twitter. The negotiations are said to be ongoing with an exorbitant price tag of 40 million euros. NetClean is a Swedish software company that specializes in providing “intelligence solutions to block, detect and analyse digital media”. The Turkish government […]
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ENDitorial: Turkish censorship – Swedish built, by royal appointment
The level of political support in Sweden for blocking, for blocking outside the rule of law and for the export of the filtering and blocking services of the Swedish internet filtering company NetClean is quite extraordinary. Domestically, Sweden has a chaotic “voluntary” web blocking scheme, whereby Internet providers block a range of websites on the […]
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Turkey: Highest court rules YouTube ban violates freedom of speech
Turkey’s highest court ruled on 29 May 2014 that access to video-sharing site YouTube has to be restored. A brief decision published on the court’s website stated that the block was unconstitutional and violated individual rights and freedom of expression. On 3 June the access to the site was finally restored. Until now Prime Minister Recep […]
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Turkey: Twitter ban lifted, YouTube still blocked
Twitter and YouTube were banned at the end of March in Turkey, after recordings that raised allegations of corruption towards the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some of the members of his cabinet were posted to the social media platforms. Turkish government justified the blocking by social media platforms’ refusal to remove offensive content […]
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Turkey removes Twitter ban following court decision
On 2 April 2014 Turkey’s constitutional court ruled that the ban on Twitter breached laws on the freedom of expression. The decision follows Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pledge to “wipe out Twitter” after users leaked information detailing alleged corrupt and illegal activities of several officials. The ban was enacted on 20 March and was […]
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Turkey blocks Twitter
Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan appears to have ordered Twitter be blocked in the country, after wiretapped voice recordings and documents apparently showing evidence of corruption the prime minister’s inner circle were leaked via the social media platform. The ban entered into force shortly before midnight on 20 March 2014. Users trying to access the […]
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Internet censorship and surveillance in Turkey
The Turkish government recently passed a new law that will deepen the existing censorship and surveillance on the Internet. The new law is an amendment to Law #5651, an article of which has been previously condemned by European Court of Human Rights (Ahmet Yildirim vs. Turkish Government case where the Court ruled that Turkey had […]
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The Turkish Government is trying to justify Internet censorship
A large and aggressive campaign has been deployed by the Turkish ruling party AKP (Justice and Development Party) over the last few weeks in an attempt to justify Internet censorship. Paid-for advertising, press statements, op-eds in pro-government newspapers or tweets were meant to press the idea that censorship is a mean to protect Internet users […]
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Turkey: Internet censorship is getting harsher
The law proposal and its justification which have been presented to the Presidency of the Turkish Parliament for the approval by the Justice and Development Party about the change in “The regulation of internet-based broadcasting and the struggle with crimes that are committed via these broadcasting” is a threatening text in many ways. The motion, […]
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