Access to internet censorship report blocked by Turkish court
A Turkish court has blocked access to the Freedom of Expression Association’s EngelliWeb initiative’s annual report on internet censorship in Turkey, which revealed the blocking of over 107,000 websites and domains in 2021.
A Turkish court has blocked access to the Freedom of Expression Association’s EngelliWeb initiative’s annual report on internet censorship in Turkey, which revealed the blocking of over 107,000 websites and domains in 2021.
The report states that these restrictions were imposed because the content of these sites, domains and URLs contained violations of personal rights, mainly those of government officials, including President Erdogan, his son Bilal Erdogan and Tolga Ağar, a member of parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and son of former interior minister and police chief Mehmet Ağar.
On Thursday, EngelliWeb announced that access to its 2021 report was restricted by the Şile Peace Criminal Court’s 18 May 2023 decision based on yoga instructor Akif Manaf’s request for violation of personal rights. Turkey has been criticised recently for its crackdown on websites, social media accounts and news outlets that are critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling party. Reporters Without Borders’ 2023 World Press Freedom Index ranked Turkey 165th out of 180 countries, with 90 percent of national media owned by pro-government entities.
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