In
the year 2011, Bulent Arinc, the Vice-Prime Minister declared that the
then President of Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD), Umit
Boyner, was a porn enthusiast. This was his considered reply to Mrs Boyner’s criticisms
of the internet filtering mechanism installed by the AKP government.
Despite many civic controversies, the government has defended its filtering system by claiming that it is designed to protect children from pornographic and violent content. So according to the government, whoever opposes that must be a porn enthusiast by default. However amongst all the ngo’s that have raised such criticism, it was only Mrs Boyner who came in for such lowlife humiliations.
It has always set me wondering about how much of this was directly due to the fact that Umit Boyner, as leaders go, is a very strong character and a beautiful woman. In any case, Mrs Boyner’s opposition to the content filtering system as it is controlled by governmental institutions then became only one of many smear campaigns which she has had to contend.
In the last 10 years, the government’s interventions in internet regulation have always been highly problematic in Turkey. Censorship and shutting down random websites have been a daily activity. In my article in September 2013, I wrote about Facebook shutting down the pages of Kurdish politicians, citizen journalism and LGBT groups. I suggested that it was a consequence of the heavy censorship in the country and Facebook just chose to be allies with the government without any resistance to keeping these pages open.
Turkey’s shaky reputation in internet censorship has been visible in every international report on free speech, web indexes, and press freedom. Lately in November 2013, the Web Index Report prepared by the World Wide Web Foundation ranked Turkey as 58th out of 81 countries in terms of indicators based on universal access, freedom and openness, relevant content, and empowerment. In the same report, Turkey appears to champion censoring politically sensitive content together with Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.
Yet, this bleak picture was in place before the recent attack on the internet. Now, a new Bill has been passed on Wednesday night, a draft Law prepared hastily and of course without any deliberation with NGO’s, legal authorities or the internet companies.
Last June, when social media channels were heavily used in communication during the Gezi resistance, rumour had it that the government was preparing for a far stronger censorship of the internet. Prime Minister Erdogan, calling Twitter a ‘menace’, gave the clearest signal of another attempt to make things tighter under his authoritarian rule.
Read more: Turkey’s nightmarish adventures in censorship and surveillance on the internet | openDemocracy
Despite many civic controversies, the government has defended its filtering system by claiming that it is designed to protect children from pornographic and violent content. So according to the government, whoever opposes that must be a porn enthusiast by default. However amongst all the ngo’s that have raised such criticism, it was only Mrs Boyner who came in for such lowlife humiliations.
It has always set me wondering about how much of this was directly due to the fact that Umit Boyner, as leaders go, is a very strong character and a beautiful woman. In any case, Mrs Boyner’s opposition to the content filtering system as it is controlled by governmental institutions then became only one of many smear campaigns which she has had to contend.
In the last 10 years, the government’s interventions in internet regulation have always been highly problematic in Turkey. Censorship and shutting down random websites have been a daily activity. In my article in September 2013, I wrote about Facebook shutting down the pages of Kurdish politicians, citizen journalism and LGBT groups. I suggested that it was a consequence of the heavy censorship in the country and Facebook just chose to be allies with the government without any resistance to keeping these pages open.
Turkey’s shaky reputation in internet censorship has been visible in every international report on free speech, web indexes, and press freedom. Lately in November 2013, the Web Index Report prepared by the World Wide Web Foundation ranked Turkey as 58th out of 81 countries in terms of indicators based on universal access, freedom and openness, relevant content, and empowerment. In the same report, Turkey appears to champion censoring politically sensitive content together with Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.
Yet, this bleak picture was in place before the recent attack on the internet. Now, a new Bill has been passed on Wednesday night, a draft Law prepared hastily and of course without any deliberation with NGO’s, legal authorities or the internet companies.
Last June, when social media channels were heavily used in communication during the Gezi resistance, rumour had it that the government was preparing for a far stronger censorship of the internet. Prime Minister Erdogan, calling Twitter a ‘menace’, gave the clearest signal of another attempt to make things tighter under his authoritarian rule.
Read more: Turkey’s nightmarish adventures in censorship and surveillance on the internet | openDemocracy
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