President signs Turkish draconian internet law

At least three groups of business people, academics and citizens had filed petitions with the Turkish president Abdullah Gül to veto a package of draconian internet laws, amendments to the already notorious law no. 5651. Yet, three days before the end of the official deadline, on February 18, Gül signed the bill. The new bill goes beyond what the European Court of Human Rights has already declared as being a breach of fundamental rights. The Turkish legislator seems unconcerned, despite the fact that this latest development may make the path to full EU membership even more difficult.

3000 petitioners had called out to Gül in their petition against what they said would be “another step to eroding free speech and the right to privacy.” The amendments, which passed fast track in parliament, would turn Turkey into “one of the worlds worst offenders of the freedom of information, take the country further away from its democratisation goal and contribute to its existing socio-political tensions,” the petitioners appealed.

Concerns in fact have already sparked a new wave of protests on Taksim place after the parliament's decision on February 5. Now that Gül signed the legislation, several online magazines started an online protest campaign, presenting “censored” pages.

It is only the last step in what has been a deterioration of freedom of expression in Turkey, as researchers Mustafa Akgül from Bilkent University and Melih Karlidog from Marmara University detailed in a report [forthcoming in the Internet Policy Review]. The number of websites filtered since the legislation 5651 came into effect is considerable and the published list includes content not related to pornography. Plus, there are many more websites blocked, then those appearing on this list.

The amended law (see the analysis of the amendments that was done by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) does not only add to the catalogue of reasons that allow content to be blocked online in Turkey. In emergency cases, even a violation of personal privacy can result in a blocking of a website. Moreover, the blocking order can be granted by the administration, with judges only checking post order. The law now also obliges internet service providers (ISPs) to collect vast traffic data. Membership in a new ISP association that channels the blocking lists from the ministries and courts will be compulsory.

Business against internet legislation

Given the draconian measures, its not only citizens, academics and journalists, but also Turkey's business community that warned against overall negative effects, particularly for the economy. Alper Ucok from the Tüsiad business association in an answer to the Internet Policy Review, wrote: “The new legislation will increase the costs of the providers of content and connection, as well as become a burden with heavy responsibilities and high sanctions in case of non-compliance.”

Ucok is sure that the legislation will have a negative effect on the productivity of the IT sector, “since it implies additional costs, which would deter investments in the IT and digital industry in Turkey.” Implications for the general economy would also be inevitable. Tüsiad is also highly critical of the new semi-state ISP association.

“We reckon, as a general principle, that professional associations should function on a voluntary basis and not by obligation,” Ucok emphasised. The main issue regarding the new provider association according to Tüsiad, is not its compulsory membership, but that according to the newest legislation, the association would have “far more duties and responsibilities than usual professional associations.”

Turkey and Europe

In parallel, Ucok seems concerned with the implications for Turkey's role in Europe: “Instead of liberalising the existing legislation according to international and European standards, the recently passed legislation can be considered like a development towards the opposite direction and totally outside of the European legal framework,” he said, further referring to the ECHR decision in the case Yıldırım vs. Turkey, from March 18, 2013.

At the Council of Europe (CoE), of which Turkey is a member, the passage of the boosted law 5651 has not gone unnoticed. "The changes approved by Turkey's parliament may raise issues under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. That is why the Council of Europe experts are analysing it," the comment by CoE director of communication Daniel Höltgen explained to the Internet Policy Review. The CoE also had started a “dialogue with the Turkish authorities on the recent amendments to the law on the internet”.

The CoE Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks warned that the legislation would “raise new concerns in terms of compatibility with European human rights standards on freedom of expression and freedom of the media, data protection, as well as access to effective domestic remedies when these rights are violated.” He urged the Turkish authorities “to reconsider them and amend the internet legislation in a way that would foster freedom of expression online, not limit it further."

In order to assess the situation across Europe and hopefully help member states in their endeavours to address the problems arising from protection of minors, privacy and freedom of expression alike, the CoE Secretary General was favouring a comparative study on the laws and practice in respect of filtering, blocking and taking down of illegal content on the internet in all 47 member states. It seems that the council seems to pursue a strategy of containment with regards to Turkey's drastic move.