Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Turkey Reinstates YouTube Ban Advertisement

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Turkey Reinstates YouTube Ban Advertisement

    TURKEY REINSTATES YOUTUBE BAN ADVERTISEMENT
    By Ece Toksabay

    MSNBC
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39926238/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
    Nov 3 2010
    ISTANBUL

    A Turkish court has reinstated a 30-month ban on the popular
    video-sharing YouTube website just days after it was removed, deepening
    a dispute over online free expression in the European Union candidate
    country.

    Access to YouTube, a unit of Google Inc, has been blocked by the
    Turkish government since May 2008 after users posted videos Turkey
    says are insulting to the republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

    A court in Ankara on Saturday lifted the ban, which had drawn
    widespread criticism of Ankara's restrictive Internet laws, after a
    German-based firm at the request of Turkish authorities removed the
    videos by using an automated copyright system designed by Google to
    protect copyrighted material.

    YouTube later said it had reinstated the videos, arguing such videos
    did not violate users' copyright.

    But a separate court in Ankara ruled that the ban should be reinstated,
    this time over a secretly taped video purportedly showing the former
    chairman of the opposition, Deniz Baykal, in a bedroom with a female
    aide, state news Anatolian said on Tuesday.

    Guleser Aykara, a spokeswoman for the Telecommunications Board, said
    it was notified of the new ban on Tuesday and would make a decision
    by Thursday on whether to implement the ban.

    "We will first check if the undesirable content still remains on the
    website," Aykara told Reuters.

    "YouTube could restrict access to prevent Turkish users from watching
    the videos, but may keep it accessible to other users. YouTube may
    not reply or may decline our demand, in which case access will be
    banned once again."

    Google representatives said they were checking the reports and had
    no immediate comment.

    MORE THAN 5,000 SITES BANNED IN TURKEY

    Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) urged the government on Wednesday to
    guarantee online free expression in European Union candidate Turkey,
    where more than 5,000 sites are banned.

    "The YouTube controversy should not eclipse the extent of online
    blocking and censorship in Turkey, or the arrests and prosecutions
    of bloggers and netizens," RSF said in a statement.

    "Thousands of websites are blocked, in most cases for criticizing
    Ataturk or the army, for perceived attacks on the nation's 'dignity'
    or for referring to Turkey's Kurdish and Armenian minorities, taboo
    subjects in Turkey."

    Human rights groups and media watchdog associations have long urged
    Turkey to reform its harsh Internet laws. Turkey cites offences
    including child pornography, insulting Ataturk and encouraging suicide
    as justification for blocking websites.

    Analysts have criticized the ease with which citizens and politicians
    can apply under Turkish law to have an site banned.

    Lawyers for Baykal, who resigned in the wake of the so-called "sex
    videotape," had asked a judge to ban YouTube citing a violation of
    personal privacy.

    Turkish visitors to the YouTube site have been able to circumvent
    the ban by using proxy websites.

    The YouTube ban has attracted particular criticism, and even
    President Abdullah Gul has used his Twitter page to condemn it,
    urging authorities to find a solution.

    Google Inc's legal chief has called for pressure on governments
    that censor the Internet, citing China and Turkey, arguing that their
    blocking access to websites not only violates human rights but unfairly
    restrains U.S. trade.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X