Arrests after protest against internet censorship

ISTANBUL | 19-01-2014 |It is reported that 6 people were arrested yesterday evening after a demonstration in the Alsancak area of Izmir against internet censorship. The ‘Hands off my internet’ march was called in protest at a draft bill introduced by the government to censor the internet.

Hundreds of people responded to calls made on social media, gathering in Kıbrıs Şehitleri road and marching from there to Kordonboyu. The crowd carried placards bearing the words: ‘Change the government, not the law’, ‘Anti-virus programme against the AKP’ and ‘The internet is slow, I cannot download’. The marchers shouted the slogan ‘Freedom is on the streets, not at the ballot box’, concluding the protest on their return to Kıbrıs Şehitleri road. During the protest slogans were written on the windows of a branch of an international cafe chain. Following the march 6 people were arrested for ‘causing damage to property’.

In Istanbul last night riot police fired plastic bullets, tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of people protesting the government plan to expand controls over the public’s use of the Internet.

Hundreds gathered in Taksim, and along a main street to denounce the draft bill that would allow Turkey’s telecommunications authority to block websites or remove content accused of privacy violations without a court decision, and force service providers to keep Internet users’ data for two years.

The bill also includes the controversial law was approved by Parliament on Jan. 16 as many groups, including Turkey’s top business association TÜSİAD, slammed the government’s move as an attempt to curb individual freedoms.

(ANF)