Category: Sci/Tech

YouTube is back on Turkey’s long black list of censored websites.

But unlike before, the reason has nothing to do with offending Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is viewed as the father of modern-day Turkey, but a sneakily shot tape featuring a man and a woman–claimed to be the former leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, and a female CHP politician in a bedroom–and involving nudity.

Baykal resigned soon after the tape saw the light of day, back in May 2010, but remarked, “This is not a sex tape, this is a conspiracy.”

The “conspiracy,” however, was enough for Turkish authorities to reinstate the YouTube ban on Wed., Nov. 3. Following legal action by Baykal, a court ordered the High Council for Telecommunications (TIB), in charge of Turkey’s internet regulations, to either have YouTube remove the video or ban the site entirely.

An ‘obsolete and ridiculous move’

On Nov. 3, just after the court’s ruling, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged Turkish authorities “To ensure that access to the video-sharing website YouTube remains unblocked.”

“Making it inaccessible again would be seen as an obsolete and ridiculous move, especially as many Turkish internet users are able to circumvent the censorship and access the site” added RSF.

Some believe the sex tape was merely a shoddy excuse to ban YouTube.

The ban on was lifted only a few days earlier, on Oct. 30, after four videos criticizing Ataturk were removed “by a small Turkish company based in Germany, International Licensing Services, using YouTube’s automated copyright protection system,” noted RSF.

The company claimed the tapes, which were deemed as insulting the memory of Ataturk, violated copyright laws.

Google, Inc., the owner of YouTube, soon refuted this claim and said no copyright laws were broken. The four clips were allowed back on YouTube on Nov. 1, but they remained inaccessible in Turkey.

In 2008, authorities in Turkey banned access to YouTube and in June 2010, they blocked access to Google pages that shared the same IP addresses as YouTube. Google offered to block the “offensive” YouTube clips in Turkey, but this was rejected by Turkish authorities who demanded their complete removal from the site.

Turkey’s President, Abdullah Gul, has reportedly been quite critical of the ban—on his Twitter page.

“The world has already become very transparent. No one can isolate their country with custom walls or through other means. Our self-confidence is immense. Although some problems may arise because of that transparency, Turkey will overcome all obstacles with its self-confidence and resolute stance. There is no need for fear. Restrictions do not bring about the desired outcome, anyway,” he said, according to Today’s Zaman.

In March 2010, RSF listed Turkey as a “country under surveillance” in the latest “Enemies of the Internet” report. Retaliations against broadcasters, journalists, and writers—from authorities, individuals, or groups—are also frequent in Turkey.

In its Nov. 3 report, RSF noted that “The YouTube controversy should not eclipse the extent of online blocking and censorship in Turkey, or the arrests and prosecutions of bloggers and netizens. 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.”

In a 2010 report, Reporters Without Borders said there is a special hotline for reporting forbidden online material, and that between October 2008 and May 2009, the number of calls rose from 25,000 to 80,000. Currently, more than 5,000 websites are censored in Turkey.

By Ece Toksabay

ISTANBUL | Wed Nov 3, 2010 12:25pm EDT

(Reuters) – 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.

via Turkey reinstates YouTube ban | Reuters.

“a court in Ankara late on Tuesday ordered the closure of the website again — this time for refusing to remove a secretly taped video showing the former chairman of the opposition in a bedroom with an aide.”

ANKARA (Reuters)

Turkey has reinstated a ban on YouTube just days after lifting it, state agency Anatolian said, as a dispute continued over the video-sharing website’s refusal to remove content deemed illegal in the EU candidate country.

Access to YouTube, a unit of Google Inc, has been banned by the Turkish government for more than two years after users posted videos Turkey says are insulting to the republic’s founder, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk.

A court on Saturday lifted the ban, which has 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 in the latest twist, a court in Ankara late on Tuesday ordered the closure of the website again — this time for refusing to remove a secretly taped video showing the former chairman of the opposition in a bedroom with an aide.

Turks attempting to directly access YouTube on Wednesday encountered again a screen with a message saying YouTube was blocked by Turkey’s Telecommunication Regulator (TIB).

Officials at TIB could not be reached for comment. Google representatives in Turkey said they were checking the reports.

Human rights groups and media watchdog associations have long urged European Union membership candidate Turkey to reform its Internet laws. Turkey has cited offences including child pornography, insulting Ataturk and encouraging suicide as justification for blocking websites.

In June, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Turkey’s Internet law had been expanded to bar access to more than 5,000 sites. 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.

via Turkey’s youtube ban defines totalitarianism..

The battle between YouTube and Turkish officials continued this week as Turkey reportedly unblocked and then re-blocked the Google-owned video site in the country over unflattering videos of the country’s political leaders.

Turkey re-instated a ban on YouTube this week, days after a 2.5-year ban was lifted last Saturday, according to a state-run news agency. On Tuesday night, a Turkish court banned YouTube again, this time over an old video purportedly showing former opposition leader Deniz Baykal in a hotel room with someone other than his wife. Baykal was forced to resign over the video in May, according to The Guardian.

Scott Rubin, Google’s head of public policy and communications strategy for EMEA, said the company was investigating the reported ban.

“As always, we are open to discussing with Turkish authorities any concerns they may have about our services. If there are videos that they-or anyone else-believe may violate our Community Guidelines, it’s easy to flag the video,” Rubin said.

“We review all flag[ged] videos quickly, and if we find they do break the rules, we remove them quickly,” Rubin continued. “A removal for a Community Guidelines violation is a global removal, quite different from the previous demand that we apply Turkish law outside the borders of Turkey, which, of course, we refused to do.”

Turkish authorities first imposed a ban on YouTube for two days in 2007 over four videos that were deemed insulting to Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Another ban was put into place in May 2008 over the same issue, which lasted for more than two years.

YouTube refused to remove the videos from its site but made them inaccessible to users in Turkey. “We refused because we do not believe that Turkish law can or should be applied outside Turkey,” Google said in a previous statement. Many Turkish people got around the ban via proxy Web sites.

A court in Ankara on Saturday lifted the ban after a German-based company reportedly used its technology to remove the videos from the site, Reuters said. YouTube later re-posted the videos. The Tuesday ban, imposed by another court in Ankara, related to the aforementioned video of Baykal, Reuters reported.

Turkish president Abdullah Gul condemned the YouTube ban on his Twitter page, The Guardian reported, saying he did not approve of the bans and had asked officials to examine legal ways of reopening access.

In June, Turkey inexplicably banned many Google IP addresses, mostly for apps like Google Translate, Google Books and Google Docs, the International Business Times reported.

Turkey’s ban on YouTube has ended two years after the government cut off access because of videos deemed insulting to the country’s founder.

The ban was lifted after the offending videos were removed, according to Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, who is in charge of Internet issues.

“The ban has been removed,” Yildirim said on Turkish TV news channel NTV, according to various media reports. “But we didn’t get here easily, we have been through a lot in the process. I hope that they have also learned from this experience and the same thing will not happen again. YouTube will hopefully carry out its organization in Turkey within the limits of law in the future.”

YouTube said it was aware that access to its site had been restored and was investigating the circumstances.

“We’ve received reports that some users in Turkey are once again able to access YouTube…We want to be clear that a third party, not YouTube, have apparently removed some of the videos that have caused the blocking of YouTube in Turkey using our automated copyright complaint process,” YouTube said in a statement sent to Reuters. “We are investigating whether this action is valid in accordance with our copyright policy.”

The ban was imposed in May 2008 after complaints that videos insulting to Turkey founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk were being hosted on the popular video-sharing site. It is a crime in Turkey to insult the country’s founders or institutions.

via Turkey lifts two-year ban on YouTube | Digital Media – CNET News.