Reuters: Turkey blocking 3,700 websites

Turkey blocking 3,700 websites: OSCE
VIENNA, Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:37am EST

VIENNA (Reuters) – Europe’s main security and human rights watchdog said Monday Turkey was blocking some 3,700 Internet sites for ‘arbitrary and political reasons’ and urged legal reforms to show its commitment to freedom of expression.

Technology

Milos Haraszti, media freedom monitor for the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said Turkey’s Internet law was failing to preserve free expression in the country and should be reformed or abolished.

‘In its current form, Law 5651, commonly known as the Internet Law of Turkey, not only limits freedom of expression, but severely restricts citizens’ right to access information,’ Haraszti said in a statement.

He said Turkey, a European Union candidate, was barring access to 3,700 Internet sites, including YouTube, GeoCities and some Google pages, because Ankara’s Internet law was too broad and subject to political interests.

‘Even as some of the content that is deemed ‘bad’, such as child pornography, must be sanctioned, the law is unfit to achieve this. Instead, by blocking access to entire websites from Turkey, it paralyzes access to numerous modern file-sharing or social networks,’ Haraszti said.

‘Some of the official reasons to block the Internet are arbitrary and political, and therefore incompatible with OSCE’s freedom of expression commitments,’ he said.

Haraszti said Turkish law was still failing to safeguard freedom of expression, and numerous criminal code clauses were being used against journalists, who risked being sent to jail as a result.

‘Therefore ‘reform or abolish’ the Internet Law is our main recommendation … (to ensure Turks can be) a part of today’s global information society.’

Fears for press freedom in Turkey have risen as a result of state attempts to collect a $3.3 billion fine from major media group Dogan in a tax row, part of pressure on Dogan to obey a law limiting foreign ownership of Turkish firms.

In October, the European Commission’s annual report on Turkey’s progress toward EU membership urged Turkey to treat Dogan fairly and said Ankara needed to do more to protect freedom of expression and the press.

(Writing by Mark Heinrich; editing by Tim Pearce)