Three Easy Steps to Block Sites in Turkey
Submitted by jillian on 25 September, 2008 - 17:12.In a clear instance of vexatious litigation, a Turkish court has blocked the Web site of prominent evolutionist Richard Dawkins following complaints from Islamic creationist and author Adnan Oktar. Oktar, who writes under the nom de plume Harun Yahya, filed the complaint last week; when Turkish Internet users now attempt to access Dawkins' site, they are presented with a message that reads: 'access to this site has been suspended in accordance with a court decision'.
This is not the first time Oktar has been involved in such litigation. In April 2007, Oktar successfully filed a defamation complaint against Turkish online news site Eksi sozluk. Oktar filed the complaint because of comments that users of Eksi sozluk had posted about him; a similar site, Superpoligon, was also blocked. Access to Eksi sozluk was restored shortly after the complaints were filed, and the offending remarks removed by the site's administrator.
Less than four months later, Oktar appealed to Wordpress.com to remove a number of blogs which he deemed slanderous. Following an unfavorable reaction from Wordpress, Oktar again filed a complaint with the Turkish judicial system, which in turn blocked Wordpress within Turkey. Oktar's complaint was based on a number of blogs created by rival Edip Yuksel, a prominent dissident. To date, Wordpress remains blocked, despite numerous campaigns to unblock the site. Turkish bloggers now use Wordprexy, a mirror site set up by activist group Great Firewall of Turkey, to read and post to Wordpress blogs. Less than six months later, Oktar filed a complaint against Google Groups, which led to that site being blocked within Turkey as well (Google.com remained accessible; only the subdomain groups.google.com was filtered). It is once again available.
Oktar's latest rancor is directed at Richard Dawkins, a British ethologist and evolutionary biologist. Following the release of Oktar's creationist book, Atlas of Creation, Dawkins wrote on his Web site:
"I am at a loss to reconcile the expensive and glossy production values of this book with the breathtaking inanity of the content."
Oktar, who was involved in the attempt to ban Dawkins' book The God Delusion in Turkey, retaliated by filing a complaint in regards to Dawkins' Web site. A Turkish judicial court sided with Oktar, and ordered Turk Telecom to ban the site.
In each instance, the foreign press was quick to assume that the blockings were related to Turkey's rising Islamist party, the AKP. It is perhaps more alarming that politics had little to do with it. It is surprising that Oktar, considered a charlatan by the Turkish public, and having so recently run afoul of the law, carries so much weight in the Turkish judicial system.
In fact, Oktar carries neither more nor less weight than anyone else. According to a recent Reuters article, a law passed in May now allows the Telecommunications Directorate to close down websites based on complaints by individual users, thus enabling anyone with a complaint to get a site blocked. The problem therefore lies in the ease with which anyone can file such a complaint.
On Oktar's Web site, HarunYahya.com, there is a quote from the Qur'an: "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Falsehood is always bound to vanish." If Dawkins' work is the falsehood Oktar is referencing, then indeed he has succeeded in making it "vanish"...if only from the Turkish Internet.
Turkish Government Ban on Internet Sites
Thanks for the link to the petition. Make sure to sign it
thanks
thanks admin
Sad that Someone
It's sad that someone can carry such power that he can order the blocking of any site he wishes. Obviously a fool as he can't see that by his actions he's hurting himself and what he believes in. It's people like him who will undermine the internet and what it's about.
It actually block entrecard,
It actually block entrecard, blogcatalog, technorati and some other blogging networks
SEO
Hi,
Nice information.But how can we keep track others websites.This article provide easy steps and great steps to prevent some bad things.
SEO
hmm..I didn't realise that
hmm..I didn't realise that some people have the power to stop or delete blogs. OK he may not agree with the evolutionist comments and there might be some attacks on religion...but surely he has heard of freedom of speech.
again, cannot comment as I do not know what the blog was about and there might have been some comments that were a bit over the top
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Banned Sitesi
Wow. I have nothing to add but wow. Remind me not to make anyone angry in the Turkish Government. I agree with the gö?üs esteti?i and saç ekimi with a sentiment that bowing to their demands would set a dangerous precedent though.
Thanks
thank you very much
müzik dinle
Thanks for the article. I
Thanks for the article. I agree : do not understimate the power of complaint in Internet...
Thanks
Thank you very much, a good topic
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I agree but who will deny
I agree but who will deny using thousands of webproxies?
VPN connection
Nice ... but please tell me, who denies webproxies use of thousands of cheap or a simple VPN connection? top.imdb-film
Yes, I agree with maria too,
Yes, I agree with maria too, thi is a censure... no good!
thanks you
thank you post
turkish webmasters
Turkish people, are realy crazy, they dont know about white SEO. They like to make black business.
My experience: they xacked one of my dating site and steal members datebase, and make during 2 years ddos of my dating top list, to be first in my top.
I am realy tired of them...
It is important to
It is important to understand that the issue is efficiency of the court system in turkey. The issue is not the importance attached to free speech. If you badger Turks and Turkey about free speech, I think they will just be insulted and you won’t get anywhere. If you focus on helping them improve the legal system so that they can efficiently warn content providers of libelous content, that would be much more productive.
thanks
thank you very much
Thanks !
Thanks !
I'm surprised that the whole
I'm surprised that the whole of Turkey can not access some of these sites just because of one man. What is stopping people from visiting them through a proxy in any case?
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Certianly not the first time
Sch blockage of websites is certainly not a first of its kind in turkey. Its really strange though for the internet space.
Nice...but tell me please,
Nice...but tell me please, who will deny using thousands of webproxies or a simple cheap vpn connection?.
I don't have direct access
I don't have direct access to my machine, I've been relying on someone else's knowledge of the intricacies of FreeBSD (their knowledge isn't very good, I'm afraid) link building service | increase metabolism | hide ip address
Agree with comments
I agree with Maria on this one. Some excellent points have been raised.
I have signed this petition
I have signed this petition to protest Turkish government's ban on internet sites.Canl? Sohbet
I am appealing to all citizens of the world who care for civil rights and individual freedom of Müzik Dinle
Good steps
I think they are good steps to protect some people or prevent some slanderous blogs. Now, internet is everyhwhere and cross countries. It is hard to prevent some bad actions. This article provide easy steps and great steps to prevent some bad things.
thanks for sharing!
Submitted by 3freester (not
Submitted by 3freester (not verified) on 11 February, 2009 - 13:24.
I have signed this petition to protest Turkish government's ban on internet sites.
I am appealing to all citizens of the world who care for civil rights and individual freedom of expression to support this petition and please to sign it. tratamente naturiste
The war is open !
You all have reason to worry and fight against these restrictions, the problem is that Turkey is not alone in this case! I also wrote an article in French on voyance gratuite and I talk about how to fight against this problem voyance telephone and also voyance par telephone, see for yourself and sign the list! Thank you voyance
good
This blog have good steps. These steps are very valuable.
frases celebres
Nice...but tell me please, who will deny using thousands of webproxies or a simple cheap vpn connection?Frases de amor
Why block a country
There has been some commotion over the past couple of years about blocking certain counties on WP. They've changed service providers and they've messed up the routing tables. Since I don't have direct access to my machine, I've been relying on someone else's knowledge of the intricacies of FreeBSD (their knowledge isn't very good, I'm afraid). Problems should be resolved either today or tomorrow.
Serviced offices reading and meeting rooms reading
This is censure, but Turkish
This is censure, but Turkish if they really want to access the information can find alternative ! i think !
Good Steps
This blog have good steps. These steps are very valuable.
This is against Turkish
This is against Turkish online news site Eksi sozluk. Oktar filed the complaint because of comments that users of Eksi sozluk had posted about him; a similar site, Superpoligon, was also blocked.Thanks for sharing,hid lights
Dizi
I've been in Turkey and could not access my blog at blogger.com! Actually all dinle<(a>at Blogger was under country-wide firewall. YouTube and Video at Google also was blocked :(
Internet Blocking
WikiLeaks.org has also just released blocked sites from some other countries, including the Australian blacklists, which even includes a local dentist's site.
Yes you are right,
Yes you are right, WikiLeaks.org could become as important a journalistic tool
as the Freedom of Information Act.
Adnan Oktar ha causado mucho
Adnan Oktar ha causado mucho daño a los internautas turcos, dicen algunos. Pero las decisiones judiciales han excedido el límite de lo razonable y de lo que debería ser entendido como el respeto a las libertades. El hecho de que Oktar haya saltado de un servidor a otro, no puede legitimar la desproporcionada respuesta de los tribunales turcos de ir cerrándolos a medida que pasaba: WordPress.com, Google Groups y ahora Blogger.
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Thanks for the
Thanks for the article.WikiLeaks.org has also just released blocked sites from some other countries, including the Australian blacklists, which even includes a local dentist's site
Meeting rooms
Nice...but tell me please,
Nice...but tell me please, who will deny using thousands of webproxies or a simple cheap vpn connection?
I have signed this petition
I have signed this petition to protest Turkish government's ban on internet sites.
I am appealing to all citizens of the world who care for civil rights and individual freedom of expression to support this petition and please to sign it.
3freester
I've been in Turkey and
I've been in Turkey and could not access my blog at blogger.com! Actually all at Blogger was under country-wide firewall. YouTube and Video at Google also was blocked :(
Turkish Government Ban on Internet Sites
Hello,
I have signed this petition to protest Turkish government's ban on internet sites.
I am appealing to all citizens of the world who care for civil rights and individual freedom of expression to support this petition and please to sign it.
Thank you.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/turkish-government-out-of-our-internetd...
See
See http://mindtrick.net/blockedinturkey/list.php for a list of blocked sites in Turkey.
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