Huffington Post: Online Free Speech Threatened in Turkey
Huffington post article by European Affairs director Jens-Henrik Jeppeson…
The future of free speech online in Turkey hangs in the balance as the Turkish parliament considers legal provisions that would suppress Internet speech. Turkey’s blemished human rights record has already threatened the nation’s bid to join the European Union, and these proposed measures would further undermine human rights values championed by the EU. The world is watching. Turkish lawmakers must vote against the proposal.
As president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues to battle a high-profile corruption scandal and enters a new election cycle, the ruling Justice and Development Party is seeking to amend a set of Internet regulations, known as Law no. 5651, to give the government greater power over Internet content and expanded access to information about users. Because the measures are buried in a larger omnibus bill that will be submitted to a single vote, there is a real risk that the sweeping amendments will become law. The Parliament, which will likely vote within the next two weeks, should reject the amendments to Law no. 5651 and support the human rights of Turkish anti-corruption whistleblowers and ordinary Internet users alike.
