Online community blocked on complaint by department of Turkish Presidency

Two days after Turkey's largest online community has been blocked to access, the community's administrators said, on information received from the authorities, that the website was blocked upon a complaint filed by the management of security affairs under Turkish Presidency over alleged violation of article 8/a of law 5651.

The said article requires legal action to protect right to life and property, to protect national security and public order, and to prevent crime.

Noting that the authorities have cited no specific content that would justify the blocking of the website, the administrators of Eksi Sozluk said they have been told that access was blocked to the entire site allegedly because:

"False information was spread about the military and other state institutions particularly following the earthquake, the people were led to think that state institutions have been rendered incapable, and some entries were made to incite chaos within the society; the site's administrators have not responded adequately to entries that amount to false information and slander, and toxic posts and comments have not been averted by the administrators."

Yaman Akdeniz, lawyer and cyber rights activist, said:

"The reason of blocking, in brief: Those who steer off 'the appropriate flow of information' designed by the government are blocked."

AKP official: "It shall remain blocked."

A senior official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Mucahit Birinci, said on Wednesday:

"The target of the sour media is our nation's religious morals; the media shall remain blocked."

Birinci, a lawyer by profession, replied to main opposition figure Canan Kaftancioglu who tweeted, "The blocking of Eksi Sozluk is totally unacceptable," by saying:

"It will be accepted, sooner or later... You'll get used to it..."

When Birinci was criticized by users for trying to assume the role of the judiciary, he berated the critics and accused them of not having any command of Turkish language. He said:

"But we're not assuming the role of the judiciary! We are expressing our wish and opinion. Have some knowledge of Turkish language, will you... You're looking for a chance to distort things."

About Eksi Sozluk

Eksi Sozluk ("Sour Dictionary" in English), covers a vast variety of subjects as well as people, and registered writers and users are not expected only to provide information but can freely comment. Established in 1999, it is currently the largest online community in Turkey with hundreds of thousands of users and millions of visitors.