Turkish opposition challenges Internet law

Turkey’s main opposition party has applied to the Constitutional Court to repealamendments to an Internet law which would allow the telecommunicationsauthority to block access to websites without prior court approval.The Republican People's Party’s deputy, Akif Hamzacebi, who handed in theapplication, said Turkey had "lost its altitude’’ with the new law which seeks toregulate the banning of Internet services.The amendments stipulate that any decision to block a website must be sent to therelevant court within 24 hours and a ruling issued within 48 hours.If the court annuls the decision, any block must be lifted.Hamzacebi said: ‘’While carrying out the process of accession into the EU, this legalamendment has positioned Turkey among third world countries. ‘’Twitter and YouTube bans are unworthy of Turkey, which wants to raise the bar formore democracy.’’However, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has said social platforms could not bebanned, but criminal acts "must be".- Leaked recordingsGul said the country's new Internet law did not seek to bar social media platformssuch as Facebook and YouTube, but aimed to ensure that online activities involvingcrimes or damage to private lives could be blocked by the courts.Access to Twitter was blocked in Turkey on March 21 on the grounds that it violatedpersonal rights and privacy.Access to the site was restored on April 3 after Turkey's Constitutional Court ruledthe ban violated the freedom of expression.Access to YouTube was barred on March 27 after legally questionable content waspublished on the site, including the leaked recordings of a security meeting ofhigh-ranking officials.The events led to senior officials from Twitter's management meetingrepresentatives from Turkey's information technologies authority in Ankara todiscuss the possibility of opening an office in Turkey.Turkey has blamed a "parallel state" within the country for the recent flurry ofonline wiretap leaks.The "parallel state" controversy erupted in Turkey after the government accused aring led by the powerful U.S.-based Turkish preacher, Fethullah Gulen, of forming aparallel structure within the state and of plotting to topple the government.