Turkey has had a problem with internet censoring by its
government for a while now, not as much as China but a recent report by
Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) says that Turkey is
actually second in terms of internet censoring right after China. A new law is
currently trying to be passed which would allow the Telecommunications
Communciations Presidency (TIB) in Turkey to block access to websites without
that the TIB deems “insulting”. This could be done without the necessity of a
court order, meaning the TIB would have complete control over what internet
sites they wanted to ban and the bans would not be checked.
This law was passed by the Turkish Parliament on Feburary 6th
and is now being passed to the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be
signed. This past week there have been many protesting demonstrations held throughout
Turkey. This past week there was a strong call by social media for the people
of Turkey to stand up for their rights and protest. Many institutions and human
rights groups are particularly upset about the prospects of this new law and
many of the protestors are members of these groups.
It is being reported that police equipped with riot shields
and body armor have begun attacking the crowds with tear gas, rubber bullets
and pressurized water.
The Prime Minister however claims that this new law is not
censorship by any means it is just a way for the government to make the
internet “more safe and free” for the Turkish people. He also denied that
authorities would now have access to people’s personal information, which is
another concern of the protestors.
Another question being raised over this entire situation is
that it comes at a time where the Prime Minister’s entire inner-circle is being
looked at for corruption and many wonder if this is a way for the government to
silence its critics. This is a very big problem because Turkey already has huge
problems with the limits of freedom of pres.
This is something the international community, including NATO needs to be concerned with because it involves the limiting of human rights which is definitely a striking issue for NATO. These internet laws will continue to restrict the freedom of the press in Turkey and pushes the people to take more and more drastic measures, leading them down the path of possible violence and uprising. The Middle East does not need more violence so this is definitely an issue that NATO should keep a close eye on.
This is something the international community, including NATO needs to be concerned with because it involves the limiting of human rights which is definitely a striking issue for NATO. These internet laws will continue to restrict the freedom of the press in Turkey and pushes the people to take more and more drastic measures, leading them down the path of possible violence and uprising. The Middle East does not need more violence so this is definitely an issue that NATO should keep a close eye on.
This does not surprise me considering all of Turkey's recent domestic unrest. When I visited Taksim Square during the protests this summer it was amazing how many people showed up to protest the PM's increasing power. From the way in which events unfolded it was clear that the government was concerned about losing support, particularly as they tried to become part of the EU. Internet consorship by the government does not surprise me as a step they would take to try and prevent the "Arab spring" from taking over Turkey.
ReplyDeleteIt is always interesting to see what sort of rhetoric a government uses when explaining its actions, for instance in this case the government claiming that they are making the internet "more free" by censoring it. I don't think that government control is always a bad thing, but it seems as if the Turkish Government's track record is pretty abysmal in the corruption department right about now.
ReplyDeleteI am certain that that government is planning to do more than "create a safe..." or whatever crap they want everyone to believe. Let's take North Korea for example: the government holds a tight grip on communications in that country and only distributes what it Wants its citizens to know, whether it is truthful or not, so it will keep the citizens opinions and attitudes aligned with those of North Korea's government. If a particular country's citizens do not know any better and only know what they are told, and there is no outside information to counter or falsify what is disclosed, then the citizens have no choice but to believe that what they are being told is the truth. This can be used by a country (whether it be Turkey or North Korea) to exploit its citizens and convince them to do whatever is desired by the powers of a country at a given moment. All in all, a restriction or distortion of information disclosed to an entire country is almost certainly an action of people looking for more power and influence (whether or not their intentions are good or bad).
ReplyDelete