Turkish official backs Internet filter, lashes out at NGOs

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A recent plan to force Internet users in Turkey to choose one of four content-filtering packages should be supported by all nongovernmental organizations, a top official said during a meeting Monday.

“All the NGOs should unite and have one voice, especially on the Internet issues discussed a lot recently,” Tayfun Acarer, the head of the Prime Ministry’s Information Technologies Board, or BTK, said at a conference in Istanbul.

“Many NGOs voice their difficulties from time to time, but when it comes to highly important issues such as the Internet, they remain quiet,” Acarer said, calling the situation “unacceptable.” He added that all other countries like Turkey care about the ability to control the Internet.

The ongoing debate on the filtering application is “inaccurate” and politically motivated, Acarer said previously.

“Bringing this topic to the agenda these days is political,” the BTK chief said, according to an Anatolia news agency report last month.

Under the decision on “Rules and Procedures of the Safety of Internet Use,” approved by the BTK in February, Internet users in Turkey will have to choose one of four Internet packages: family, children, domestic or standard. The list of websites filtered by each package will be decided by the BTK but will not be made public.

The change will be implemented starting Aug. 22. “Unfortunately we did not receive the support we expected from NGOs for the Internet measures,” Acarer said, adding that a unified body of Turkish NGOs active in information technologies could help overcome the long-lasting problems of the sector.

“In order to do that, we should all trust in the new system and defend it with complete solidarity,” he said, adding the IT sector also requires standardization.

via Turkish official backs Internet filter, lashes out at NGOs – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.