Turkey's Political Leaders Reprise Roles In Spat Over Whether Or Not To Ban YouTube And Facebook

from the censorship-in-turkey,-part-II,-censor-harder dept

A few years ago, we wrote about attempts in Turkey to ban YouTube and some other social media sites under orders from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We followed up some of those stories, in 2010, by noting that Turkey's President, Abdullah Gul, had spoken out against those bans and was looking for ways to end them. So, we had to check the dates on new articles, when we saw late last week that Prime Minister Erdogan was, once again, talking about plans to ban YouTube and Facebook:

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Facebook and YouTube could be banned following local elections in March after leaked tapes of an alleged phone call between him and his son went viral, prompting calls for his resignation.

Erdogan claims social media sites have been abused by his political enemies, in particular his former ally US-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who, he says, is behind a stream of "fabricated" audio recordings posted on the internet purportedly revealing corruption in his inner circle.

"We are determined on this subject. We will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook," Erdogan said in an interview late on Thursday with the Turkish broadcaster ATV. "We will take the necessary steps in the strongest way."

And, within a day, there was President Gul saying that such bans were not on the table:

“Things like YouTube and Facebook are accepted all around the world, and their closure cannot be of discussion,” Mr. Gul said Friday in televised remarks. “Reversing on liberties is out of the question in Turkey. We always feel proud of reforms that enhance freedoms; they will always proceed further.”

Of course, just last month, it was Gul who approved new censorship laws in Turkey. While he did get the new law amended to address some of the criticism, he still approved the final law, which has serious problems. Either way, it appears that internet censorship remains a very popular tool for insecure Turkish politicians.

Filed Under: abdullah gul, censorship, recep erdogan, social media, turkey, youtube
Companies: facebook, twitter, youtube

Turkish President Uses Twitter To Complain About His Own Gov't's Censorship Of Google

from the follow-that? dept

We've noted that Turkey has repeatedly banned YouTube, and more recently a bunch of other Google properties. The YouTube ban came from the courts. It's still not clear what resulted in the wider Google blocks. A bunch of reporters have protested the censorship, noting how bad it makes Turkey look. And, apparently, they have support from Turkey's President. Various news publications are reporting that Turkish President Abdullah Gul used Twitter to say that he doesn't agree with the bans and has asked officials to look for ways to get rid of them.

None of the press reports I can find link to the Twitter account, but I'm assuming (risky?) that these news publications (including The Guardian (above), the Associated Press and Reuters) actually confirmed that the account is real. According to Reuters, in a series of Tweets, Gul said:

"I know there are lots of complaints about bans on YouTube and Google."

"I am definitely against them being closed down. I have ordered responsible institutions for a solution. I asked for a change in regulations on merit."

What's next? Whoever blocked Google will now block Twitter as well?

Filed Under: abdullah gul, censorship, turkey
Companies: google, twitter, youtube