A new Turkish Internet law is sparking controversy worldwide, Phys.org reports. The law essentially would broaden the government’s reach in cyberspace by permitting the telecommunications authority to block websites without first obtaining a court order, and by forcing Internet service providers (ISPs) to store data on web users for two years so that information can be available to the authorities, according to BBC News. This latter portion of the rules similarly do not require the government to first obtain a court order. The law would also impose severe penalties for failure to remove content deemed illegal.
The law as it stands appears to be incompatible with Turkey’s international human rights obligations, in particular those related to freedom of expression and the right to privacy. . . . The same rights that people have offline must also be protected online,”
said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman, Rupert Colville.
On the other side of the issue, proponents of the law, such as Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan, argue that the restrictions actually work as a protection for individual rights.
President Abdullah Gul has two weeks to sign these rules into law and has indicated that he is trying to address some of these issues, the Phys.org report also states.
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