Turkish President Tweets his disdain for Recent Filtration

In tweet from Turkish President Abdullah Gül on June 4th, he made a direct response to the censorship actions that the Turkish government took to block access to www.youtube.com. In translation, it reads

“About Turkey’s YouTube prohibition: I don’t approve of the state’s blocking of Google categories. Legal channels can be found.”

After slowdowns and loss of access started occurring over a variety of Google services in Turkey last week (see earlier blog post here), this statement, if sincere, gives some hope for a more transparent process regarding internet regulation or deregulation in the future.

About the Author: Alex Fayette

Alex is a Junior at Yale University who is currently an intern with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society @ Harvard Law School. His focus this summer is with Herdict.org and also with other Berkman projects falling under the Freedom of Expression umbrella. He is majoring in Economics and Physics, and loves singing and aviation on the side.