Turkey’s cyber law shifts sweeping powers to presidency

{"text":[[{"start":8.72,"text":"Rights groups have warned that a new Turkish cyber security law risks creating a system of “absolute digital obedience”, by giving the presidency sweeping powers over internet services, gaming platforms and social media accounts."}],[{"start":23.08,"text":"About 90 per cent of Turkey’s national media outlets are already under government control, according to Reporters Without Borders, meaning that platforms such as X, YouTube and Meta’s Instagram are among the few spaces still relatively open to critical reporting and dissent. Turkey ranks 163rd of 180 countries in RSF’s latest index of press freedom."}],[{"start":45.48,"text":"“The new measure is straight out of the standard rule book for information control in authoritarian contexts,” said Tomiwa Ilori, a senior researcher in Human Rights Watch’s technology and rights division. “Cybersecurity powers should not be concentrated in the executive. They should also be subject to adequate safeguards.”"}],[{"start":64.36,"text":"Under the law, powers of digital oversight are officially centralised in Turkey’s Cybersecurity Directorate, which is attached to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s office. It can now prescribe urgent measures on its own initiative or at the request of security agencies. Telecom operators, access providers and other online platforms must comply within two hours, with orders reviewed by a judge after implementation."}],[{"start":88.38,"text":"The law, which came into force at the end of July, justifies the approach on national security grounds, describing cyber space as a domain “as vital as conventional defence” for safeguarding digital sovereignty, critical infrastructure and public order. Concentrating cyber powers also avoids duplicating the functions of different state agencies, saving TL30bn (US$630mn), according to Ersan Aksu, an MP from Erdoğan’s governing AK party."}],[{"start":116.14,"text":"But critics of the move, while acknowledging national security concerns, said it was the broader context of Turkish censorship that made the legislation concerning."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":124,"text":"“The new law is more than a cosmetic transfer of powers to the presidency,” said Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor at Istanbul’s Bilgi University and a leading digital rights campaigner. “It creates a command centre for Turkey’s digital obedience regime.”"}],[{"start":139.08,"text":"Professional organisations including Turkey’s chambers of computer and electrical engineers have also criticised the measure, which they say is tantamount to “digital censorship”. Tahsin Ocaklı, an MP from the opposition Republican People’s Party, said its undefined powers risked turning Turkey into a “digital prison”."}],[{"start":158.16,"text":"Those fears are sharpened by the frequent prosecution of journalists, online commentators and other media figures."}],[{"start":165.56,"text":"Two prominent recent cases include the arrest of Deutsche Welle reporter Alican Uludağ over allegations that include insulting the president. Photographer Bennu Gerede was separately detained for “obscenity” after saying in a YouTube interview that she wore a portable vibrator as a necklace pendant."}],[{"start":184.14,"text":"Turkey also regularly restricts social media services through bandwidth throttling, which slows internet connections enough to make targeted platforms unusable."}],[{"start":193.74,"text":"Access to X, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and other services was throttled for almost two days during the mass protests that followed the detention of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu last year. Almost 1,000 social-media accounts with a combined audience of more than 25mn followers were also blocked, according to Turkey’s Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD). They included İmamoğlu’s main Turkish X account, which had more than 9mn followers."}],[{"start":222.3,"text":"Last week, a Turkish court ordered X to restrict another İmamoğlu account. X complied in Turkey but said it would challenge the decision."}],[{"start":230.6,"text":"The cyber overhaul comes as Turkey has separately prohibited children under 15 from having social media accounts. Unlike in Australia and France, where similar restrictions have been put in place, major social media companies have mounted little visible public opposition to the Turkish measure."}],[{"start":247.64,"text":"Turkish officials are also considering verifying age through e-Devlet, Turkey’s online government-services portal. Critics fear that, without strong privacy safeguards, this could allow the state to match the identities of all Turkish social media users with their online accounts."}],[{"start":263.16,"text":"“Everyone would then have to identify themselves, and the Turkish state would know exactly who is linked to every social media account, as well as their posting history,” Akdeniz said. “The result would be a digital panopticon.”"}],[{"start":279.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786331035_2548.mp3"}