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Viewing cable 08ISTANBUL562, STIFLING DIALOGUE - WEB SITE BLOCKS REACH 1,187

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08ISTANBUL562 2008-11-07 07:11 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Istanbul
VZCZCXRO5283
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHIT #0562/01 3120711
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070711Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8582
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000562 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AA OSCE TU
SUBJECT: STIFLING DIALOGUE - WEB SITE BLOCKS REACH 1,187 
 
REF: A. A. ANKARA 603 
     B. B. ANKARA 306 
 
1. Summary and Comment: Since November 2007, the Government 
of Turkey (GOT) has blocked 1,187 Web sites and received 
14,503 public complaints. Lawyers and technology reporters 
argue that the contentious 2007 law regulating Internet 
content establishes an outdated and unwieldy regulatory 
framework that restricts freedom of expression and is in some 
respects worse than the oppressive Internet censorship 
techniques used by China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.  The GOT's 
paternalistic approach to Internet regulation discourages 
dialogue between opposing positions, allowing disagreements 
and long-held positions to fester under the rug of 
censorship.  An acknowledgement of the backwardness of the 
Internet regulation and a reworking of the judicial and 
regulatory approach to Internet regulation is necessary for 
Turkey to demonstrate a commitment to EU accession. End 
Summary. 
 
Browsing the History of Turkish Internet Law 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  In explaining the historical approach to Internet law in 
Turkey, CNBC lawyer and Bianet writer Fikrit Ilkiz said that 
in 1998 lawyers and active members from Turkey's Internet 
community founded the Internet and Law Platform.  According 
to member Ilkiz, the Platform educates lawmakers and the 
public about the Internet and lobbies for a positive legal 
approach that embraces the freedom of expression rather than 
a limitation of expression.  The Platform also translated the 
Cyber Crime Agreement accepted by the continental European 
states into Turkish, he said; however, Turkey has yet to sign 
it. 
 
3.  Ilkiz explained the GOT agreed in 2005 to create an 
Internet law and proposed the addition of a single article to 
the Press Law. The Platform protested the proposal, 
countering that an inclusive law addressing the Internet's 
broad definition and role was needed instead.  Ilkiz said 
that the Platform and members of an Internet commission in 
the Justice Ministry worked for a year and a half to create 
such a law. At the time, he noted, the process to create a 
law that protected freedom of expression on the Internet was 
very participatory and energetic. 
 
4.  In May 2007, according to Ilkiz the Ministry of 
Transportation and Communication proposed an alternative 14 
articles to restrict Internet freedoms stemming from media 
attention on child pornography on the Web (Ref A).  Ilkiz 
described the Parliament's decision to accept the Ministry of 
Transportation's proposal over the combined efforts of the 
Platform and the Ministry of Justice as one dictated by fears 
of public perception. A more democratic approach, he 
contended, would have harnessed the positive aspects of the 
Internet while limiting harmful content. Based on these 14 
articles, the current Internet law allows for legal action 
against the content provider if a Web site includes or 
promotes any of the following: 
 
- Child pornography 
- Insulting Ataturk 
- Suicide 
- Illegal drugs 
- Health hazards 
- Obscenity 
- Gambling 
 
How to . . . Block a Web Site in Turkey 
--------------------------------------- 
 
5.  Ilkiz and Radikal technology columnist Serdar Kuzuloglu 
explained that the law established a special 
telecommunications board, the TIB, dedicated to monitoring 
complaints related to Web site content.  The TIB determines 
whether or not a complaint is valid and can block a Web site 
without a court procedure. However, they said, if a complaint 
pertains to other charges, such as a violation of Article 301 
or personal insult, the case goes to court and the content 
provider's only means of unblocking the site is through a 
court decision. Between November 1, 2007 and November 1, 
2008, the TIB received 14,503 complaints and 1,187 Web sites 
were blocked.  Of that number, courts blocked 264 sites and 
TIB blocked 923 without judicial proceedings. Forty seven 
percent of TIB decisions pertained to child pornography, 
while 56 percent of court decisions involved other 
accusations, such as personal insults. 
 
6.  The most prominent and long term Web site closure 
 
ISTANBUL 00000562  002 OF 002 
 
 
occurred in May 2008, when an Istanbul court closed the 
"YouTube" Web site to block a cartoon that lampooned Turkey's 
founding father, Ataturk (Ref A). "YouTube" remains blocked 
in Turkey and Ilkiz argued that instead of blocking the 
entire Web site, the GOT should instead correct, punish, or 
block the offending cartoon. "One should not close down an 
entire library because one finds a single book offensive." 
Kuzuloglu characterized such a broad block as a violation of 
the freedom of expression for the multiple unoffending 
authors on YouTube. "In this sense," he said, "I think we are 
becoming like China." He suspected that the GOT will keep the 
block in place until YouTube establishes a physical 
representative in Turkey for legal accountability. 
 
7.  Kuzuloglu said that the current form of the law fails to 
consider the international character of the Internet.  The 
law mandates that an individual take responsibility for 
Internet content, requiring Web site proprietors to fill out 
an ID card on the Turkish Telecommunication (TTA) Authority's 
Web site. According to Kuzuloglu, the TTA can block any Web 
site without an ID card on file indiscriminately, even if the 
content provider is located outside Turkey.  Instead of 
controlling public exposure to contentious ideas, he 
suggested the GOT instead use this as an opportunity to join 
a developed world concerned about universal challenges like 
child exploitation.  The current approach, he argued, brings 
society down to the lowest common denominator instead of 
encouraging dialogue between opposing sides.  "Banning is the 
national reflex," according to Kuzuloglu, and the GOT should 
allow the Turkish public to confront controversial issues. 
 
Searching for Solutions 
------------------------------ 
 
8.  Ilkiz predicts that judicial system's "gross ignorance of 
the technical aspects of the Internet" will force the GOT to 
revisit this issue soon.  Under the current law, he 
explained, if a hacker added obscene material to a ministry's 
Web site as the content provider the ministry would be held 
responsible. 
 
9.  Ilkiz stressed the importance of an Internet-literate 
court, and Kuzuloglu suggested the creation of a special 
Internet court on which judges and prosecutors with Internet 
training would sit. He pointed to a recent case in which 
controversial antievolutionary author, Adnan Oktar, 
successfully petitioned the Silivri Court to block the Web 
site of major newspaper Vatan.  Oktar's petition was based on 
a reader's critical comments submitted in the online version 
of the newspaper. Such an "ignorant" outcome would not be 
possible in a special Internet court, Kuzuloglu argued. 
WIENER