Turkey’s top court annuls article enabling internet censorship

Source:Stockholm Center for Freedom Date:13Jan2024

These type of libertarian rulings largely explain why AKP-MHP want to prune the authority of the Constitutional Court

According to Turkish media reports, the top court found that the power granted to Turkey’s Telecommunications Authority (BTK) to unilaterally remove content or block access was unconstitutional. The ruling also emphasized that such restrictions on content significantly infringed upon the fundamental freedoms of expression and the press.

Reports by the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) reveal that hundreds of thousands of websites and online content have been blocked in Turkey in recent years, under the guise of protecting personal rights.

Turkey, where internet freedom has steadily declined over the past decade, ranks among the “not free” countries concerning online freedoms, according to a report released by the US-based nonprofit Freedom House in October.