The Turkish government has reportedly added a last-minute amendment to an omnibus law that will be discussed in Parliament next week, proposing further tightening of the country's Internet controls.
The amendment added by the government, which has increasingly relied on omnibus laws -- called tote-bag laws in Turkish -- to make amendments to major regulations and laws with little or no discussion on the changes, proposes authorities to block access to websites over “dangerous content,” the Hürriyet daily reported on Saturday.
The amendment added by the government, which has increasingly relied on omnibus laws -- called tote-bag laws in Turkish -- to make amendments to major regulations and laws with little or no discussion on the changes, proposes authorities to block access to websites over “dangerous content,” the Hürriyet daily reported on Saturday.
According to Hürriyet, the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) will be able to block access to a website upon the request of the prime ministry or any other ministry if it is not possible to block some certain content on that website.
The proposed amendment suggests these actions when “national security public order are under threat,” Hürriyet said.
Turkey has already tight controls of the Internet with expanded powers given to the telecoms authority late last year. TİB which is headed by a former intelligence official has the authority to block sites if deemed necessary for matters of "national security, the restoration of public order and the prevention of crimes."
The proposed amendment suggests these actions when “national security public order are under threat,” Hürriyet said.
Turkey has already tight controls of the Internet with expanded powers given to the telecoms authority late last year. TİB which is headed by a former intelligence official has the authority to block sites if deemed necessary for matters of "national security, the restoration of public order and the prevention of crimes."
Also in February of last year, TİB was authorized to block websites which violate individuals' privacy without seeking permission from a court. The measures also force Internet providers to keep records of users' activity for up to two years and make these available to the authorities upon request.
US-based rights watchdog Freedom House said in December that Internet freedom in Turkey experienced the sharpest decline in five years among 65 countries.
“Turkey declined 13 points as the government increased censorship, granted state agencies broad powers to block content, and charged more people for online expression,” the report said based on tracking results since 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment