CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘censorship’ Category

Hürriyet: Websites to continue to be banned in Turkey- transportation minister

Websites will continue to be banned as long as they post content inappropriate for Turkish families, a Turkish minister said Wednesday.

Websites to continue to be banned in Turkey- transportation minister

‘Practices are needed to protect young people and the public at large from harmful material online,’ the Turkish Daily News (TDN) quoted Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim as speaking at the international CeBit Information Technology Summit in Istanbul on Wednesday.

‘Law 5651 sees as appropriate the establishment of precautions against material that might hurt children, youth and families. If these precautions are not enough, then the law sees a Website ban as necessary,’ he said.

Turkey is listed together with Tunisia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Iran and Vietnam, as the ‘black listed’ countries that implement government censorship controls.

Turkey’s internet activity sensitivities relate particularly to terror, respect for religion, the founder of modern Turkey, Ataturk, and pornography, and while similar sensitivities are in place in most countries around the world, clear differences between censorship and freedom of speech are apparent, as control mechanisms are widely implemented as a way of curbing abuse.

Turkey has blocked access to over a thousand Internet sites since 2007.

The purpose of the law was not to actually shut down Websites but was to ‘encourage the appropriate use of the Internet for the betterment of society,’ he added.

‘The spirit and purpose of the law is to make civil society and public administration work together and thus keep the bans to as low a number as possible, bringing precautions to the forefront,’ he was quoted by TDN as saying.

Yildirim said it was necessary for the Internet Security Directorate and the Internet Board to work together very closely in establishing content harmonious with the public good.

He said the use of the Internet was rapidly increasing, as the 4 million users recorded in 2002 had grown to 33 percent of Turks using the Internet today.

‘In six months, every household in Turkey will have access to the Internet; it is up to us to provide them with the education and equipment needed,’ he said.

Holocaust denier David Irving compares British justice to Nazi Germany in court outburst | Mail Online

By Rebecca Camber, Last updated at 12:58 AM on 04th October 2008

Disgraced historian David Irving yesterday compared British justice to that of the Third Reich.

The Holocaust revisionist launched his outburst as he attended court to support his friend Gerald Toben, 64, who was arrested on a German extradition warrant during a stopover at Heathrow.

Toben is accused of publishing internet material between 2000 and 2004 that ‘denies, approves or plays down’ the Holocaust, which is illegal in Germany.

Outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Irving, 70, said: ‘This type of procedure demeans our society in that the Germans and Austrians can dictate to us what we feel and can say and what we read and write. They lost that right in 1939.

‘If the British soldiers in Normandy who went to the beaches in 1944 could see what happened today, they would not have gone 40 yards up the beach.’

Irving, who was jailed in Austria in 2006 for denying the Holocaust, plans to invite Toben to stay at his home in Windsor if he is granted bail next week.

He went on: ‘I disapprove of some of his views but he has the right to express them, just as people disapprove of my views but my books and views are suppressed.

‘It’s like living in Nazi Germany. What we have seen here today is like Nazi Germany, but in pinstripe suits.’

Last night D-Day veteran Roland Jefferson, 83, who landed on Juno Beach in June 4, 1944, said: ‘Irving is a lunatic and I’m not happy with his comments that are bound to make a lot of veterans angry.

‘The Holocaust was dreadful and everyone who bravely fought on D-Day recognises that.’

The Obscene Publications Act rides again: “

Girls Aloud case heads for court - net holds its breath

The legal world is buzzing at the announcement last week of the prosecution of 35-year-old civil servant Darryn Walker for the online publication of material that Police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) believe to be obscene.…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Nobody is safe from the long arm of EU law - Telegraph

By Philip Johnston, Last Updated: 12:01am BST 06/10/2008

Here is something the Government told us would never happen. When Britain signed up to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) six years ago, critics pointed out that an individual could be extradited to another EU state to face prosecution for something that is not a crime in Britain and had not even been committed in the requesting country. Ministers dismissed such concerns as fanciful, but it has come to pass.

An Australian teacher is currently in jail in London, following his arrest at Heathrow airport by British police acting on a warrant issued by the German authorities.

Gerald Töben, 64, is wanted in Germany for the offence of “Holocaust denial”. It used to be a fundamental protection in British law that no one would be sent for trial in another jurisdiction for something that is not an offence here. It was called the principle of dual criminality. However, when the EAW was drawn up this principle was removed for a list of 32 offences, which include the crimes of “racism and xenophobia”.

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MELANIE PHILLIPS: We must never let Brussels turn Holocaust denial into a crime | Mail Online

Holocaust-denial law and the attempted extradition of a man for publishing antisemitic material

Last updated at 12:06 PM on 06th October 2008

Later this week, a London magistrates’ court will hear a bail application in an extradition case which should be ringing alarm bells.

A German-born Australian citizen, Fredrick Toben, was arrested as he passed through Heathrow by British police acting under an EU arrest warrant issued by the German authorities.

The Germans have accused him of publishing antisemitic Holocaust-denial material on his Australian website.

There is no doubt that the views expressed by Toben, a notorious falsifier of history who was previously sentenced to nine months’ jail in Germany for breaching its Holocaust- denial law, are vile. He says, for example, that there is no proof that Hitler systematically exterminated the Jews and that Auschwitz was merely a ‘transit camp’.
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Eurasia Daily Monitor: Turkish authorities step up censorship of Internet web sites

By Gareth Jenkins, Friday, October 3, 2008

In the early hours of October 4, 2005, Turkey officially began accession negotiations with the EU. Over the previous four years, in order to secure a date for the opening of negotiations, successive Turkish governments had eased many of the restrictions on freedom of expression in the country. Since October 2005, however, the process has ground to a halt. Indeed, in some areas, it appears to have gone into reverse, particularly in the increasing attempts to censor the Internet.

The Turkish authorities have long sought to block Internet users in Turkey from accessing websites associated with militant groups that espouse violence, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Over the last 18 months, however, there has been a rapid rise in the censorship of websites, purely because they contain material that expresses values or opinions deemed unsuitable for the Turkish public.

Until May 2007, there was no legal framework in Turkey specifically designed to regulate the content of Internet websites. In practice, the judicial system tended to apply the same laws that were used to regulate traditional media outlets such as newspapers and television channels. On May 4, 2007, however, the Turkish parliament passed Law No. 5651, which was specifically designed to regulate Internet content and prevent websites from being used for crimes such as “encouraging suicide,” “the sexual exploitation of children,” “facilitating the use of narcotics,” “obscenity,” “prostitution,” and “gambling” (Law No. 5651 of May 4, 2007, published in the Official Gazette No. 26530 of May 23, 2007). The law also provided for the prevention of access to websites that violated other Turkish laws, such as anti-terrorism legislation or the law that forbids insulting the memory of the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Law No. 5816 of July 25, 1951, published in the Official Gazette No. 7872 of July 31, 1951). In addition, under Article 24 of the Turkish Civil Code (Turkish Ministry of Justice website, www.adalet.gov.tr), individuals can apply for access to be blocked to a website that they feel is “infringing on their personal rights.”
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YouTube censors Pat Condell’s latest video | EuropeNews: “YouTube censors Pat Condell’s latest video

October 01 2008

The outspoken English comedian Pat Condell (official web site here) has had his latest video blocked by YouTube. You can watch it here, below the break.

The most urgent message in his video is this: If you live in Britain please sign this petition against the creeping poison of sharia law before October 4th when it closes.”

(more…)

Over 1,000 Web sites banned in Turkey since November 2007: “The head of Turkeys Telecommunications Board has stated that 1,112 Web sites have been banned in the country since November 2007 following complaints by individuals over inappropriate content on these sites.”

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Telecommunications Board President Tayfun Acarer said a center was established within the Postal and Telecommunications Directorate (PTT) on Nov. 23, 2007, allowing people to report Web sites on which they have complaints. He said people also have the option to report their complaints by email or telephone.

“This center has received a total of 24,598 complaints since its establishment last year. Following these complaints, 1,112 Web sites, 861 automatically and 251 with judicial decisions, were banned.”

Acarer said the number of Internet users in Turkey is close to 30 million and, as is the case with all useful things, the Internet can also be used for dishonorable aims. “The duty of the state is to protect its citizens and warn them against harmful Internet content.”

He noted that Web site bans are necessary to prevent the public from falling victim to sites with criminal or ignoble intent, noting that the Transportation Ministry established a Web site, www.guvenliweb.org.tr to this end.

YouTube clips removed

Acarer said complaints were filed for the removal of 202 video clips on the popular video-sharing site YouTube mainly because they insulted Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.

It is illegal in Turkey to insult Atatürk, a revered figure whose portrait still hangs in nearly all government offices almost 70 years after his death in 1938.

According to Acarer, 12 Web sites were banned because of prostitution, 51 for insulting Atatürk, 79 for gambling, 415 for exploitation of children and 390 for obscenity.

03 October 2008, Friday: TODAY’S ZAMAN

(Via Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish news: News.)

An Egyptian blogger is out of jail provided that he stop blogging: “

After being in jail for more than 2 months, the Egyptian blogger Mohamed Refaat was set free.

Mohamed told Add-Dostour daily newspaper that the state security officers insisted that he will not go out of his detention custody till he sign a paper saying he will never update his blog neither heis Facebook account , nevertheless dealing with humanitarian NGOs or journalists.

Refaat has being in jail since July, though the editor of the blog Matabbat was ordered to be realesed. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and Hisham Mubarak Law Center reported in a statement:

The state security apparatus had raided Mohamed Refaat’s home early in the morning on 21st of July 2008 in his absence, and seized his PC, and many of his books, and when Mohamed Refaat approached the officer ‘ Hisham Tawfik’ in the morning in the state security offices, he shocked by the fabricated charges of ‘inciting to strike on the occasion of 23rd July’, he was then referred to the state security prosecution office in the case no. 1143 for the year 2008.

Mohamed Refaat’s blog did not include any thing about this alleged strike. The Egyptian detained blogger used to write hid dairy , and write postings about love, life in Cairo and some personal stuff. Refaat was accused of ‘offending the state institutions, destabilizing the public security, and inciting for demonstrations and strikes via internet’ and these charges need no evidence.

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(Via Global Voices Advocacy.)

UK minister looks for delete key on user generated content: “

Burnham lets slip UK.gov real view of the net

The UKCCIS is go, with the aim of making the internet safe for kids. But is this the beginning of the end of the internet as we know it, or just a Minister reaching for the inevitable soundbite to round off a PR triumph?…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)