Turkey warns YouTube and Facebook could be banned

[webfact]

LEAKS
Turkey warns YouTube and Facebook could be banned

Ankara - Turkey's embattled prime minister has warned that his government could ban popular social media networks YouTube and Facebook after a number of online leaks added momentum to a spiralling corruption scandal.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposals to tighten his government’s grip over the Internet have generated criticism at home and abroad about rights in the EU-hopeful country.

"There are new steps we will take in that sphere after March 30... including a ban (on YouTube, Facebook)," Erdogan told private ATV television in an interview late Thursday.

In stark contrast, President Abdullah Gul, a frequent social media user, said Facebook and Youtube cannot be unplugged.

"Youtube and Facebook are recognised platforms all over the world. A ban is out of the question," he told reporters on Friday.

The president in Turkey is however a largely ceremonial figure.

Erdogan, Turkey’s all-powerful leader since 2003, has been under mounting pressure after audio recordings were leaked last month in which he and his son allegedly discuss how to hide vast sums of money.

The Turkish premier dismissed them as a "vile" and an "immoral" montage by rivals ahead of key local elections on March 30. His office claimed the recordings were "completely untrue".

A series of other leaks on YouTube showed Erdogan allegedly meddling in trade deals and court cases.

Erdogan’s government has been shaken by a high-level corruption scandal that erupted in mid-December and ensnared the premier’s key political and business allies.

Erdogan has waged a war against ally-turned-opponent Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric based in the United States with strong influence over the country’s police and the judiciary, of orchestrating the graft probe.

He has accused so-called "Gulenists" of acting like a "parallel state" and vowed to cleanse the state of the movement’s supporters by purging police and passing laws to increase his grip over the Internet and the judiciary.

"Social media has turned into a domain for quite some time where the battle between the loyalists of the frustrated prime minister and the alleged ’parallel state’ is in full swing," Asli Tunc, professor at Istanbul’s Bilgi University, told AFP.

"The government is seeking to find channels to shut down the social media which leaks tapes or dissident views. People cling to social media tools like Twitter for their news because the mainstream media or TVs are cowering in fear," she said.

Erdogan’s latest threat about Facebook and YouTube is a reflection of his political frustration in the run up to elections, according to Tunc, but she said the premier was also known for his intolerance toward the social media.

Erdogan is openly suspicious of the Internet, branding Twitter a "menace" last year for helping organise mass anti-government protests in which eight people died and thousands were injured.

"I don’t have that much time to waste in Twitter," he said last month.

Tunc said that in undemocratic countries governments tended to control the social media because its dynamic structure "runs contrary to their policies".

Access to thousands of websites have been blocked in recent years in Turkey.

YouTube was previously banned for two years until 2010 because of material deemed insulting to the country’s still-revered founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The site still managed to be one of the most visited in Turkey, with users including Erdogan himself resorting to proxy servers to dodge the ban.

"I can get in (YouTube), you can too", Erdogan famously said at the time, referring to those servers that provided a backdoor to the site.

Further Internet curbs allowed the authorities to keep a record of someone’s web activity for up to two years and block sites deemed insulting or as invading privacy, which critics denounced as "Orwellian".

Critics say however that the latest curbs are aimed at preventing further details from the corruption scandal being leaked online.

The European Union has voiced its "concerns" that the Internet law would limit freedom of expression, urging Ankara to ensure compliance with the bloc’s standards.

AFP


-- The Nation 2014-03-08

[sam sen]

sounds like a good idea. can honestly say it wouldn't effect my life one iota.

people would find something more productive to do with their time.

remember the 'why dont you...' tv series in the UK?

[Pikeybkk]

That will really help with their entry process into the EU

[jpinx]

Is the EU banning facebook too???? I wish .......

[Credo]

If only they could ban stupidity.....

[jpinx]

That'd make this forum pretty quiet

[ezzra]

This guy is nothing but another tyrant in the making, one day and it will be raveled how many billion he has amassed, what palaces he built, his fancy car collection, private zoo and his perverted sexual fantasies

will for all to see while he swings from a rope or facing a firing squad....

[Krataiboy]

sounds like a good idea. can honestly say it wouldn't effect my life one iota.

people would find something more productive to do with their time.

remember the 'why dont you...' tv series in the UK?

Talk about missing the point. For the countless millions across the world with repressive regimes which control what the domestic newspapers, tv and radio publishes, YouTube and social media sites are vital channels for obtaining and disseminating important information. Yes, there's a lot of trivia out there, but without these independent information outlets you sneer at there would have been no Arab Spring.

It will be interesting to see whether that self-appointed crusader for democracy, the United States publicly condemns the "friendly" Turkish regime's latest clampdown on freedom.

[Saradoc1972]

Oh dear...

In Germany, we got a big minority of Turks and whatever misgivings arise I'd say way more than half of them are not the problem. And if it comes down to religion they're some of the most laid back Muslims you could wish for.

I've talked to a couple of Erdogans' countrymen (that would admittedly be the more educated crowd) and from what I hear the majority are regarding him as a fascist hindering the development of their country.

Erdogan himself keeps on appealing to the nationalist feeelings of his countrymen living abroad to exert political pressure in their states of residence to support his political agenda.Great, just what we need.

It's one of the rare points I support Merkel's government that I don't see more than a "vaguely defined partnership" (meaning "no way you get into the EU") coming for the next two decades or until things fundamentally changes down there.

Freedom of speech would be one of those.

The EU needs them more than the other way around? The EU has hardly found a way to deal with Hungary's political developments, their regressing economy is about the last thing we need at all!

[Saradoc1972]

The US have been sooooo suportive of them ever since for being so strategically situated to block the Russians' access to the Mediteranean...

To the point they wanted to pressurize the EU into allowing them in. Where they had a point, well until 2003, with Turkey being the most saecularized Muslim state.

[geriatrickid]

Erdogan is still playing to the fundamentalist segment. He has to do something to build himself up as he keeps suffering setbacks on the world stage. The Egyptians told him to p*ss off. He former best buddy in Syria has used Turkey as a dumping ground for its refugees, the Kurds are getting aggressive, Israel refuses to take the bait get into an argument with him, the EU remains aloof and the USA just smiles and says how 'bout the cold winter we've been having, sure has been mighty cold.

[Steely Dan]

Megalomaniacs hate to lose control of anything, events seem to be spiraling out of control for Erdogan, thus provoking more and more bizarre and desperate behavior. Perhaps he should copy the equally deranged Belarusian leader who banned school children from clapping. But on reflection Erdogan has already trumped this by threatening to ban lego if they didn't stop producing a model of Jabba the Hutt's base because it resembled the Hagia Sofia, thereby somehow painting Muslims in a bad light.

[transam]

And the EU members (and perhaps new) are all equal....................

[falangadang]

sounds like a good idea. can honestly say it wouldn't effect my life one iota.

people would find something more productive to do with their time.

remember the 'why dont you...' tv series in the UK?

"sounds like a good idea" ??

Yes,.. but only if its a personal choice to not use such services.

I don't use FB as I don't like it one little bit and see it as a huge time waste and ego trip for narcissists.

Youtube on the other hand is great. A great source of documentaries, information, private news and opinion channels, music clips, concerts, movies... the list is endless and its all free and not controlled by Big Media who are only interested in money and propaganda control.

Twitter I see as a personal waste of time but have to say its a good source of the latest "now" news which is great for all the protests and uprisings as the public and independent journalists can keep up to the minute with real live in the trenches reports.

If my server ever goes down I can always search twitter for #host_t_r and will get an up to minute report of whats happening (even quicker than I can by logging into support and trying to get the truth out of them).

Again.. we had an earth tremor (well it felt like one) a couple of years back in Chiangmai so I search Twitter "earthquake Chiangmai" and yep... within 1 minute ot was flooded with tweets all sharing the same experience and confirming the details... so its a great resource from that perspective!

[EyesWideOpen]

Hmmm social media being used as a tool to expose corruption ?? That is hitting a little close

to home here in Thailand. If the anti-corruption train ever picked up real speed, I am sure

that Thailand would do the same. Wow, the Thai girls would be beserk if Facebook was shut

down.

[boomerangutang]

If only they could ban stupidity.....

....and paranoia, and iron-grip control

It's easy to tell which countries have the most dirty secrets to hide. Just look at which ones ban facebook and youtube, and google, etc. China and N.Korea top the list, with honorable mention for Zimbabwe, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

[boomerangutang]

Hmmm social media being used as a tool to expose corruption ?? That is hitting a little close

to home here in Thailand. If the anti-corruption train ever picked up real speed, I am sure

that Thailand would do the same. Wow, the Thai girls would be beserk if Facebook was shut

down.

In the early days, for Thai boys and girls, it was; "you internet?"

Then it was; "You hotmail?"

Now it's; "you facebook?"

What's next? "You plug?" ?