Google – AFP, Fulya Ozerkan (AFP), 18 February 2014
 |
A protester
holds a placard reading, "Everywhere blackout, everywhere filter", during
a protest against Turkish government's newly proposed restrictions on
the use of
Internet, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, on February 8, 2014
(AFP/File, Ozan Kose)
|
Ankara —
Turkey's government is planning to amend a contentious bill tightening controls
over the Internet in an apparent backtrack in the face of widespread
opposition.
Transport
Minister Lutfi Elvan signalled changes to the legislation at a meeting with
political parties in parliament on Tuesday, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
An
opposition lawmaker confirmed the planned amendments to aspects of the bill
concerning some powers of Turkey's telecommunications authority.
"The
steps are positive but not enough," Akif Hamzacebi of the Republican
People's Party (CHP) was quoted as saying by NTV television.
 |
Turkey's
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan gestures at members of parliament
from his
ruling AK Party during a meeting at
the Turkish parliament in Ankara on
February 18, 2014 (AFP, Adem Altan)
|
But the
government is now proposing that the TIB will have to inform a judge about any
decision to block a web page.
The judge
would then have to issue a ruling within 48 hours or the TIB move would be
deemed invalid, Hurriyet said.
The Internet
bill has sparked outrage both at home and abroad and fuelled concerns over the
state of democracy in the EU-hopeful country under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
The
legislation came on top of moves to curb the judiciary and a government purge
of police and prosecutors in the face of corruption probe that has targeted
close Erdogan allies.
The
Internet bill could now either be vetoed by President Abdullah Gul and sent
back to parliament to include the planned amendments, or it could be approved
by the president and the amended clauses could be inserted in a separate batch
of laws.
Observers
say the second option appears more likely because Gul has indicated that he
will sign into law both the Internet and judiciary measures.
Gul said
that while he intended to raise concerns over "problematic clauses"
in both bills, it was not his place to challenge the legislation.
- 'News
will self-destruct' -
"As
president, I cannot put myself into the position of the constitutional
court," Hurriyet quoted him as saying, referring to opposition plans to
challenge the legislation in Turkey's highest court.
Leading
daily Radikal launched an online campaign to protest at the Internet curbs,
erasing news stories, pictures and columns from its website once every four
hours.
The
campaign refers to the timeframe initially proposed for the TIB to be able to
block a webpage under emergency measures.
"We
will have a new motto like in the Mission Impossible movie," Radikal
editor-in-chief Eyup Can wrote in his column, referring to the film's
catchphrase "This message will self destruct in five seconds".
"This
news story will self destruct by TIB in four hours," he said.
Erdogan has
vehemently denied accusations of online censorship, and said Tuesday the
proposed Internet curbs were aimed at countering "blackmail" and
"threats".
"The
Internet will not be censored, freedoms will not limited," Erdogan told
his lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in
parliament.
He said the
number of Internet subscribers in predominantly Muslim Turkey had swelled to 34
million from 20,000 since the AKP came to power in 2002.
Defenders
of the law say the new restrictions protect individual rights while critics
argue they amount to nothing more than a fresh assault on freedom of expression
and an attempt to stifle dissent.
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