ANKARA
Turkey’s new Internet law is no different than Internet regulations in any other developed countries, said Turkey’s transportation minister in defence of the implementation of the new law.
Turkey's parliament passed a bill on Thursday that allows the country's national Presidency of Telecommunications to block access to certain parts of websites without prior court approval.
“No developed country in the world allows the publication of illegal documents on the Internet, every country would prevent it. This is what we are doing with this regulation which is also open to the judiciary,” Transportation, Maritime and Communication Minister Lutfi Elvan told Anadolu Agency.
Elvan said that the existing bill did not go far enough to protect individual rights. “We want to protect individual rights and liberties. We want to protect and guarantee the right to privacy. In that regard, the existing bill did not respond to the needs of the people,” he added.
Before the law was enacted, people or companies had to wait for legal proceedings before content they considered offensive could be blocked.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
