Since 2010, there has been a steady decline in press freedom and freedom to use the internet in the Republic of Turkey. Journalists are often imprisoned or have their movements restricted. Some estimates suggest that Turkey is responsible for one-third of all journalists imprisoned worldwide.

Since the 2016 coup attempt, internet censorship has also significantly increased. Over 100,000 websites have been permanently or repeatedly blocked, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox, Wikipedia, WhatsApp, Periscope, and Imgur.

In addition to blocking and censoring websites, the Turkish government has numerous ways to restrict internet use. They sometimes practice bandwidth throttling or shut down the internet completely. They also monitor communications and prosecute individuals for statements made on social media. These actions have led Freedom House to downgrade the country to a "Not Free" rating.

In this article, we will examine how and why the Turkish government censors internet use. Additionally, you can read what media the Republic can and cannot access. Finally, you can find out how Turkish citizens try to bypass these restrictions.

Why is there Internet Censorship in Turkey?

The political situation in Turkey has become increasingly unstable over the past decade. Since 2016, the country has faced more than a dozen terrorist attacks, economic problems, and a failed military coup.

In response to these political upheavals, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has imposed extensive restrictions on freedom of speech. Additionally, they have increased the influence of Islam on government policy.

The Turkish government cites various reasons for such extensive restrictions on the media, internet, and press. They say they want to stabilize the state and monitor terrorist activities. They also restrict media that is prohibited under Islam and prosecute incidents of defamation or slander.

In response to these claims, several organizations, including Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, and the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, have found that restrictions on media use, freedom of speech and expression, and access to the internet have significantly served the AKP's social and political objectives.

How does the Turkish Government Censor the Internet?

Censorship can take different forms. Below, you can read about the laws the Turkish government uses to impose censorship. Additionally, you can learn when and how they use these methods of censorship.

Regulation

Since July 20, 2016, Turkey has been in a "state of emergency," granting President Erdoğan and his cabinet extraordinary powers. This has allowed the government to bypass parliamentary and constitutional scrutiny. As a result, they have been able to issue a series of executive decrees that have blocked websites, shut down communication networks, and resulted in over 50,000 arrests.

On August 15, 2016, President Erdoğan published Decree No. 671, which amended the law on digital communications. The decree empowered the government to take "any necessary measures" to block websites, restrict internet access, and censor media "in relation to national security, public order, prevention of crime, protection of public health and public morals, or the protection of rights and freedoms."

Decree No. 671 obliges telecom companies to comply with any government order within 2 hours of receiving it.

In cases where Decree No. 671 does not apply, Article 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Law is often used to censor media coverage. They will suggest that it "legitimizes, glorifies, or incites violent methods or threats." Article 7 is often used to censor news media coverage of police and military operations, particularly in the Kurdish southeast region, which has a politically unstable majority.

Individuals who criticize President Erdoğan or his government, either in print or on social media, are often prosecuted. For websites, this can mean being blocked or taken down under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code.

Article 125 mandates a minimum 1-year sentence for defaming a public official. Article 299 mandates up to four years in prison for insulting the president.

Restrictions on Connectivity

The backbone for Turkey's internet infrastructure is provided by internet service provider (ISP) TTNET, a subsidiary of Türk Telekom. The Turkish Undersecretary of Treasury holds 30% of Türk Telekom shares. This allows them significant control over the country's largest internet provider.

The Turkish government has repeatedly used bandwidth throttling to deny its citizens access to the internet during times of civil unrest. In 2016, there was a 6-hour phone and internet blackout affecting 12 million residents across 10 Turkish cities. A month later, a similar shutdown suspended mobile and landline internet in 11 cities. This meant that 6 million citizens were cut off from the internet.

Access to certain news media and social media websites has been selectively throttled to reduce the dissemination of information. Connections to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp were either completely throttled or blocked during the Istanbul Atatürk Airport terrorist attack, the 2016 coup attempt, the 2016 Gaziantep bombing, and the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrei Enkolov.

Content Removal and Filtering

The Turkish government constantly filters internet content and blocks access to over 100,000 websites. Using deep packet inspection (DPI), ISPs analyze unencrypted internet traffic. This way, they can prevent users from accessing content blacklisted by the government.

Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) requires all ISPs to register for a certificate of activity before providing connection services. As part of this registration, ISPs and internet cafes are obligated to comply with government restrictions. If they fail to comply, they risk having their certificates revoked.

The Turkish government is responsible for over 75% of all removal requests submitted to Twitter. They have consistently submitted the largest number of removal requests per year since 2016.

Since 2016, BTK and Turkish security services have been actively attempting to block VPNs and encrypted email or messaging services. These restrictions have been justified by suggesting that encrypted messaging or email facilitates communication by terrorist groups.

Monitoring of User Activity

In 2014, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) was granted expanded powers to access communication data without requiring a court order. Similar expanded powers shielded MİT agents from prosecution under civil law.

There have been numerous cases of individuals being arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for making anti-government statements or "terrorist propaganda" on social media.

ISPs are required to store internal IP distribution logs using software supplied by BTK. These logs must be kept for 1 year and made available to BTK upon request. Again, these can be obtained without a court order. Since 2011, all suppliers of encryption software are required to provide their encryption keys to BTK before they can offer their products to Turkish citizens or companies.

What Exactly is Censored by the Turkish Government?

The Regulation on Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed Through These Publications Act prevents ISPs from providing access to any content related to "child sexual abuse, drug use, hazardous substances, prostitution, obscenity, gambling, promoting suicide, and crimes against Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.”

Indecency

90% of all websites blacklisted by BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority) are listed as "obscene." This means they were blocked for containing sexual content, pornography, or having certain sexual keywords in their domain. This extends to LGBTQ websites.

Criticism of Islam

Websites criticizing or denigrating Islam, promoting Islamic figures, or advocating atheism can also be blocked. Websites advocating the theory of evolution have also been actively filtered.

Criticism of the State

Under recent Turkish laws with somewhat vague definitions, websites can be blocked or shut down for "criticizing the Turkish state" or "terrorist organization propaganda." This has cracked down on news websites that present dissenting views from the government.

Between 2016 and 2017, the BTK blacklisted 17 news websites deemed to be critical of the state, the government, or the president. Another popular reason for blacklisting a website can be demonstrating sympathy with the Kurdish minority. For example, news programs that covered current events in a sympathetic way towards Turkey's Kurdish population or the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been blacklisted.

Wikipedia was permanently blocked in Turkey after refusing to remove articles on the conflict in Syria and state-sponsored terrorism, which were considered critical of the Turkish state. Social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Periscope are regularly throttled or blocked.

Access to Dropbox, OneDrive, GitHub, and Google Drive is also regularly restricted. This is due to the 2016 release of thousands of emails of the Minister of Finance and Treasury, Berat Albayrak, on those services by the hacker group RedHack.

The Turkish government has recently taken steps to regulate streaming services. A draft decree issued by the government in February 2018 would require global streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube to obtain broadcasting licenses from the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK).

How Turkish Citizens Are Circumventing Internet Censorship

As blocks on social media, non-partisan news coverage, and political views that oppose the current government increase, Turkish citizens are increasingly looking for ways to bypass these restrictions.

VPN services remain the most popular way to gain unrestricted access to the internet. However, the BTK continues to attempt to restrict access to popular VPN services.

Using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) software, the BTK is able to identify and block traffic from VPN ports. If you are a Turkish resident, or just visiting Turkey, choosing a VPN service that is able to disguise its traffic as regular HTTPS traffic is an important step to be able to access consistently filtered content.

Encrypted messaging apps, such as Telegram, have remained popular, although user numbers in Turkey have fallen since 2016. This is because hundreds of Turkish citizens were arrested in 2016 for using the ByLock app, making many users wary of using similar apps.

In December 2017, the BTK instructed ISPs to begin actively blocking IP addresses commonly used by the Tor anonymity network. While Turkish ISPs have been particularly successful in blocking the IP addresses of publicly available Tor exit nodes, Turkish users of the Tor web browser have fought back by producing an increasing number of Tor "bridges."

These bridges are not listed in the main Tor directory. They use various traffic manipulation tools to prevent being identified as Tor traffic by DPI. The creation of additional Tor bridges has allowed the use of Tor in Turkey to remain stable, even as the BTK has attempted to block access to it.

Final Thoughts

Since the attempted coup in 2016, the freedom of the press and freedom to use the internet in Turkey has been described as being on a "negative trajectory of liberty."

Website-based news media providers are blocked or shut down for criticizing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Turkey prosecutes ordinary citizens for posting political views on social media. Additionally, the country leads the world in imprisoned journalists.

Access to content on the internet is heavily restricted. Users can expect regular bandwidth throttling and blocking of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Turkish security services heavily monitor communications. They often use emails and social media posts as evidence when someone is convicted of insulting the government or supporting terrorism.

It seems there is no hope of these restrictions being lifted anytime soon. Thus, Turkish citizens have continued to find ways to circumvent them. They do so by employing VPN services, encrypted messaging apps, and anonymous browsers. In this way, they can access content that the BTK deems unsuitable. Most importantly, they can freely express their political views without fear.