Turkey is the only country implementing government controls in Europe and among countries including Iran and North Korea that impose internet censorship, Radikal daily reported on Thursday. (UPDATED)
There is no country in the West that stands as an example of the censorship method which Turkey implements; only in this country the government has all the control, Mete Tevetoglu, the head of the Istanbul Bar Association Information and Law of Information Center told Radikal.
In Turkey, the Telecommunications Authority, which governs the internet sector, transforms into a censorship bureau in such matters, he added.
Turkey is listed together with Tunisia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Iran and Vietnam, as the “black listed” countries that implement government censorship controls.
Turkey’s internet activity sensitivities relate particularly to terror, respect for religion, the founder of modern Turkey, Ataturk, and pornography, and while similar sensitivities are in place in most countries around the world, clear differences between censorship and freedom of speech are apparent, as control mechanisms are widely implemented as a way of curbing abuse.
Internet censorship is not perceived as a solution to even the most serious internet related crimes by the West.
Countries including the United States and the UK, which also have very strict laws relating to child pornography, treat related cases as a strictly civil matter under the jurisdiction of police and the courts.
Turkey has blocked access to 1,112 Internet sites since 2007.