IGF 2014: Internet Freedom in Turkey — Original Presentation Notes
Arşiv açıklaması: Bu belge, “IGF_presenatation_SerhatKOC(1).docx” adlı 2014 dönemine ait konuşma hazırlık metninden aktarılmıştır. Kaynak dosyada konuşmanın tam günü belirtilmiyor; arşivde 2 Eylül 2014 tarihi, İstanbul IGF etkinliğinin başlangıç günü olarak sıralama amacıyla kullanılmıştır. Metindeki mevzuat, sayılar ve değerlendirmeler 2014 bağlamındadır; bugünkü durumu ifade etmez. Bu metin, daha önce yayımlanan IGF 2014 değerlendirme yazısından farklı olarak kaynak konuşma notlarının kendisidir.
Original presentation notes (2014)
The objective of IGF is to maximize the opportunity for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas among all stakeholders and benefit from several perspectives.
As outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
This right includes freedom to have opinions without interference and receive information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Between May 2007 and July 2014 Turkey blocked access to about 45.000 websites subject to controversial Internet Law No 5651.
Although, the Law aimed to protect childrren from harmful content, from the very beginning it has been used to prevent all public's access to information.
In February 2014, amendments made to this internet code for URL-based blocking of Internet content. The amendments raised concerns on violation of personal rights and privacy infringements.
The amendments obliged all ISPs to be part of an Association for Access Providers to centrally enforce blocking orders within 4 hours of receipt.
And also introduced 1 to 2 year data retention requirements for hosting companies in addition to all ISPs.
According to new provisions, ISPs are required to take all necessary measures to block access to alternative access methods and mechanisms such as proxy sites and other circumvention services including VPNs.
The amended version of this code also shields the Turkish Telecommunications Presidency (TIB) staff from prosecution if they commit crimes during the exercise of their duties, which i will talk about in detail in following minutes
After the introduction of these amendments access to Twitter and YouTube has been blocked in March 2014 unlawfully by the Telecommunication Presidency as confirmed by the recent decisions of the Turkish Constitutional Court.
With both blocking orders the government aimed to prevent the circulation of allegations of 17 December issue before the local elections.
During the blocking period, the authorities also ordered major ISPs to hijack Google and OpenDNS DNS services to poison and track communications as well as to prevent users to circumvent the blocking orders.
The Constitutional Court stated that the blocking of Twitter by TIB is a explicit intervention on the freedom of expression of all Twitter users.
Furthermore, the Constitutional Court decided that the YouTube ban was unconstitutional and infringed freedom of expression protected by the Constitution.
However, despite these strong decisions Twitter decided to implement its Country Withheld Content Policy for Turkey and started to block access to certain Turkish Twitter accounts as well as individual tweets.
It was reported in June 2014 that Twitter complied with 44 out of 51 court decisions since they visited Turkish authorities 2 times in april and august and they continue to aid and assist Turkish authorities to censor political content from Turkey.
Facebook also banned pages of a number of alternative news sources on its social media platform, including Ötekilerin Postası and other related groups on Kurdish rebellious movements and has been criticized for removing several pages related to the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
Currently, access to popular platforms such as Scribd, Last.fm, Metacafe, and Soundcloud is blocked from Turkey. Access to WordPress, DailyMotion, Vimeo and Google+ has ben blocked temporarily by court or administrative orders during the last year.
A number of alternative news websites that report news on Kurdish issues remain blocked from Turkey including Firat News.
The practice of banning the future publication of entire websites goes beyond “any notion of ‘necessary’ restraint in a democratic society and, instead, means a direct censorship forever".
Over the past year, many users received suspended sentences and fines for their social media activity, usually on charges related to terrorism or criticism of the state and its officials.
In September 2013, pianist and composer Fazil Say was given a suspended sentence of 10 months and court supervision for insulting religious values in a series of tweets.
Subsequent to Gezi Park protests of June 2013 dozens of people were detained for their social media posts about what is going on in the streets
Criminal investigations and prosecutions were initiated subject to Turkish Criminal Code concerning as well as with regards to miscellaneous provisions of Meetings and Demonstrations Code.
However, such criminal investigations and prosecutions “endanger our so called democracy" by creating a chilling effect on all social media platform users.
In addition to widespread blocking of websites and content as well as criminal investigations and prosecutions to silence political speech, the Turkish authorities are also building surveillance infrastructure including the deployment of deep packet inspection systems to monitor all forms of communications unlawfully.