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Blocking Access to the Publications on Internet
Pursuant to Article 8 of Law No. 5651, internet content shall be
blocked where it raises substantial suspicions for constituting one of
the following crimes as provided for under the Turkish Criminal Code
No. 5237: encouragement and incitement of suicide, sexual abuse of
children, facilitating the use of drugs or stimulants, supplying haz-
ardous substances for health, obscenity, prostitution, providing a place
and possibility for gambling and also the crimes disclosed under the
Law on Crimes Committed Against Atatürk No. 5816.
Prior to the amendment of Article 9 of Law No. 5651, which reg-
ulates the removal of content, anyone who feels their rights have been
violated due to content should request the removal of such content
from the content provider. If the content provider cannot be reached,
then they should make their request to the hosting provider. In the old
implementation, if the request to remove content was rejected, the
person could apply to the criminal court of peace and request a court
decision for removal of the content. Then, the criminal court of peace
would render a decision within three days without conducting a
hearing.
However, due to the amendments introduced to Article 9 of Law
No. 5651, the above-stated regulation is completely amended. In the
following, the amended Article 9 and additional Article 9/A will be
examined.
Removal of Content that Violates Personal Rights
As per Article 9, the real/legal persons, agencies and institutions
may apply to the content provider where they have a claim that Internet
content violates their personal rights. Where the content provider can-
not be reached, they may apply to the hosting provider to remove the
violating content.
Nevertheless, an application to block access to certain content that
violates personal rights may be filed directly with the criminal court of
peace. The court that receives the request shall render a decision with-
in twenty-four hours, without conducting a hearing. The decision ren-
dered by the court on blocking access shall be sent to the Access
Providers Association (“APA”); then, such access provider shall fulfill
the court decision sent to them by the APA instantly within four hours.
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NEWSLETTER 2014