Internet Filters Set Off Protests Around Turkey

Thousands of people in more than 30 cities around Turkey took to the streets on Sunday to protest a new system of filtering the Internet that opponents consider censorship.

The Information and Communications Technologies Authority, known by its Turkish initials as BTK, is going to require Internet service providers to offer consumers four choices for filtering the Internet that would limit access to many sites, beginning in August. Protesters in Taksim Square in Istanbul called the action, which regulators say is intended to protect minors, an assault on personal freedom and liberty. The BTK, however, has said that Internet users will still be able to access all content if they choose the “standard” option for filtering. The other filtering options are labeled as “children,” “family” and “domestic.” Tayfun Acarer, the chairman of the BTK, told reporters this month that the change came about because of complaints and demands for safer Internet use in Turkey. Thousands of protesters in Taksim Square, who were organized through a Facebook page, chanted, “Yes, we ban!” In Ankara, the capital, people cheered, “The Internet is ours and will remain ours!”