The Globe and Mail is reporting that Turkey has ordered ISPs to block access to YouTube, because of videos that are “allegedly insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.”
It is another country asserting national sovereignty over the internet. Italy acted previously with respect to child pornography. Brazil had blocked YouTube, Denmark blocking AllofMP3.com. France and Germany have their own restrictions.
Paul Doany, head of Turk Telekom said:
We are not in the position of saying that what YouTube did was an insult, that it was right or wrong. A court decision was proposed to us, and we are doing what that court decision says.
Who should make these kinds of determinations for various types of content?
To what extent can countries exert sovereign authority over their portion of the internet? Should countries have that authority?
The 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit in June includes a session examining Illegal Content on the Internet.