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Communications The Internet Technology

Turkey Moves To Oversee All Online Content, Raises Concerns Over Censorship (reuters.com) 71

stikves writes: Turkey has granted its radio and television watchdog sweeping oversight over all online content, including streaming platforms like Netflix and online news outlets, in a move that raised concerns over possible censorship. The move was initially approved by Turkey's parliament in March last year, with support from President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party and its nationalist ally. The regulation, published in Turkey's Official Gazette on Thursday, mandates all online content providers to obtain broadcasting licenses from RTUK, which will then supervise the content put out by the providers. Aside from streaming giant Netflix, other platforms like local streaming websites PuhuTV and BluTV, which in recent years have produced popular shows, will be subject to supervision and potential fines or loss of their license. In addition to subscription services like Netflix, free online news outlets which rely on advertising for their revenues will also be subject to the same measures.
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Turkey Moves To Oversee All Online Content, Raises Concerns Over Censorship

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  • Cut them off. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    No EU, no NATO, hardly-Democracy... why is anyone trying to twist Turkey's arm back to the west? Let them go. They'll be back in 30-40. There's no point trying to force dictatorships to be anything other than dictatorships.

    Mueller side-eyes this comment, sips coffee loudly. "Christ."

    • I wonder if they still prosecute taxi passengers when their drivers get into accidents. Their mentality is if the driver didn't have you as his passenger, he wouldn't have gotten into the accident.
    • The problem is that the Bosporus Bugaboo has Europe at the balls. The message is "either dance to my tune or I open the borders and flood you with refugees".

  • ...granted its radio and television watchdog sweeping oversight over all online content, including streaming platforms like Netflix and online news outlets, in a move that raised concerns over possible censorship....

    [bold mine]

    ...raised concerns by who exactly?

    Seems that Turkey has borrwed a leaf from the US of A, whose [subtle] pressure on 8Chan's former host forced it to kick it out.

    I think by this logic, we should be praising Turkey for its foresightedness.

    • Not the same thing, Turkey is censoring criticism of the government and dissenting views.

      The choice of shutting down 8chan wasn't due to government telling them to do anything.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        8chan was a dollar decision kinda like Dick's sporting good stores.

        I'm waiting for Walmart to take advantage of the situation to finally dump their thin-margin precious shelf space of weapons and ammo.

        The applause would be louder than the boo hiss.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Obfuscant ( 592200 )

          I'm waiting for Walmart to take advantage of the situation to finally dump their thin-margin precious shelf space of weapons and ammo.

          So you want Walmart to "take advantage" of the bad situation to virtue signal regarding guns and ammo. You never want a serious crisis to go to waste, if you can forward an agenda that will solve nothing.

          Walmart selling ammo and guns didn't cause the problem. It's a legal product that millions of honest, decent citizens own without any trouble at all.

          Do you want Walmart to stop selling knives if someone manages to use a knife to kill someone?

          The applause would be louder than the boo hiss.

          The applause would be from people who have no intention of ever

          • Just to get the definitions straight, are there any efforts that could be taken against the shootings, that wouldn't provide a complete solution but also wouldn't be virtue signaling?

            • Yes.

              Ban high capacity rapid fire weapons.

              That sends them down to the black market. Those gun traffickers are routinely rounded up with sting operations.

              LEO can make arrests for possession.

            • Just to get the definitions straight, are there any efforts that could be taken against the shootings, that wouldn't provide a complete solution but also wouldn't be virtue signaling?

              When an action would have NO EFFECT upon such already highly illegal activities, then it is dishonest to put the matter in terms of "wouldn't provide a complete solution". It's "provides no solution at all but makes people think you care about something". That is the quintessential definition of virtue signaling.

          • You're the boo hiss.

            Put yer glasses on:

            I'm waiting for Walmart ...

            "Waiting" != "wanting."

          • by rastos1 ( 601318 )

            Do you want Walmart to stop selling knives if someone manages to use a knife to kill someone?

            (If I was living in US) I would absolutely want Walmart to stop selling knife throwing machine that ejects 5 knifes per second at speed exceeding speed of sound.

            • There ya go.

              Spot on.

              Why didn't I think of this? Thanks. I'm putting this in my arsenal (see what I did there) and I'm taking full credit because I'm an insensitive clod.

              Well said.

            • (If I was living in US) I would absolutely want Walmart to stop selling knife throwing machine that ejects 5 knifes per second at speed exceeding speed of sound.

              Walmart already doesn't sell such a machine. It's either useless hyperbole or dishonest debating to pretend that they do.

      • by Anonymous Coward

        Turkey is deplatforming problematic views they don't want to support

        Turkey has the authority to do that, they have the legal right to choose.

        Think twice before cheering hosts who can set any ToS or ignore them entirely. If it's not codified it's not neutral. Don't insist "they have the legal power to be arbitrary" then complain about the arbitrary.

        There's a right way and a wrong way to achieve No Neonazis, and "they can block whoever/whatever we want" is just inviting future problems.

      • Not the same thing, Turkey is censoring criticism of the government and dissenting views.

        What would you say 8chan offered? AFAIK, it was chock full of criticism of the government and dissenting views, all silenced now.

        8chan today, the rest tomorrow, that's how this works.

    • It wasn't government pressure that caused CloudFront to drop their DDOS protection for 8chan, it was the negative publicity.

    • How so? The free market decided 8chan's ideas were shite, and gave them the boot. This is the very definition of letting some ideas rot away into nothing.

  • I don't give a damn.

    I don't care about China or Russia, either.

    Sovereign countries can do what they wish. If the People want things to be different badly enough, let them dump tea in a goddam harbour.

    • In the long term that only leads to "the People" drinking crappy coffee.

    • The fear that the people could do just that (in a more modern way, for reference see "Arab Spring") is precisely why those tinpot dictators are clamping down on the internet.

      They love the media. As long as they control them, at least.

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