Double Blow Against Freedom Of Speech For Twitter Users In Turkey

from the bad-precedents dept

Tue, Apr 23rd 2013 4:29pm — Glyn Moody

Techdirt has written a few times about Turkey's difficult relationship with new technology. Unfortunately, it looks like that now includes Twitter, as two troubling decisions against users have been handed down recently. Here's the first, as reported by the Turkish Web site Hürriyet Daily News:

Model Nilay Dorsa had filed a criminal complaint against Tolga Çam who posted a tweet mentioning Dorsa with "offensive content" in November 2011.

…

The court board said Çam committed revilement crime by expressing his personal thoughts over Twitter and sharing them with public, considering Twitter as a media platform for the first time in Turkey.

That sets a bad precedent, since it means that writing on Twitter is now regarded as akin to publishing in a newspaper or magazine, with correspondingly severe punishments. Indeed, only a few days later, the same argument was made when a suspended 10-month sentence for "insulting religious beliefs held by a section of the society" was imposed on the well-known Turkish pianist Fazil Say. According to another story in Hürriyet Daily News, the sentence was increased massively because he "published" his thoughts on Twitter: Say was initially handed eight months for "committing and insisting on committing a crime" before the court tacked on an additional four years because the artist voiced the insult through "a mode of publication."
Fortunately, the sentence was then reduced to 10 months, and suspended, but made subject to a five-year supervision period, during which time it could still be imposed. A similar three-year supervision was imposed on Çam in the case involving Nilay Dorsa, establishing a clear pattern that is likely to have a chilling effect on the use of Twitter in Turkey.

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Filed Under: turkey
Companies: twitter

12 Comments

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Andrew F (profile), 23 Apr 2013 @ 5:13pm

Not Twitter
The problem isn't that the Turkish government doesn't get Twitter. The problem is that "insulting religious beliefs" and "revilement crime" are illegal to begin with.
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  horse with no name, 23 Apr 2013 @ 5:25pm
  
  Re: Not Twitter
  Don't confuse the author with facts. He thinks that the world starts and ends on the internet.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2013 @ 6:43am
    
    Re: Re: Not Twitter
    Where, exactly, are the lies in the post? You seem to think that some facts are real facts and others are of no consequence. Remember, this is a tech blog, not a religious blog, so the religious question is kept strictly out of it.
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    - horse with no name, 24 Apr 2013 @ 5:13pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Not Twitter
      bemoaning the loss of free speech when there was none to start with is meaningless. This post as a result is fairly meaningless, because the people of Turkey did not have that type of free speech to start with.
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- The Real Michael, 24 Apr 2013 @ 4:18am
  
  Re: Not Twitter
  Just what the heck is a "revilement crime," anyway?
  
  Take note of this because certain politicians here in the US want to push through similar thought crime legislation, under the guise of "preventing bullying" and "for the children," setting the stage for a system similar to Turkey's.
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Digitari, 23 Apr 2013 @ 5:20pm

RE:Turkey
"gobble, gobble, gobble."

(it's Turkey, not a "free" state like the US)

/Sarc [for both lines]
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Jay (profile), 23 Apr 2013 @ 5:39pm

All I can think
Oh my gosh, what a waste of resources! Someone says things that only a few people would care about and we have to punish them for thinking!

What's next? We're going to throw people in jail for breathing too hard?
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- Anonymous Coward, 23 Apr 2013 @ 6:42pm
  
  Re: All I can think
  I suspect after the Prenda lawsuits end, the RIAA is going to demand people be thrown in jail for laughing too hard...
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Apr 2013 @ 7:00pm

On a lighter note
If we pull the internet out of Turkey does that mean we can stop worrying about the Turkish I problem?
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- Digitari, 23 Apr 2013 @ 8:41pm
  
  Re: On a lighter note
  talk about coding for Turkeys, wow
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2013 @ 1:41am

so, Turkey has finally come right out and joined the likes of China then, taking away all forms of freedom of speech as far as modern forms of communicating is concerned. i bet you anything, the judges are around the same ages as those that keep fighting modern technology everywhere else. they're too old to understand it so think the only way is to ban it.
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Wxxxx, 12 Jul 2013 @ 5:13pm

sffghf
Ardogan is dead. Just give him time
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