14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier today Turkey decided to block access to Wikipedia, citing a law that protects national security. It seems the problem was the site's refusal to remove content the Turkish government believed was trying to smear the country.
According to the Turkish Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ministry, access to Wikipedia was restricted because the website was hosting articles and comments that claimed Turkey was coordinating with terrorist groups, which they claim is just part of a smear campaign against Turkey in the area.
Therefore, the governmental agency decided to use an administrative order to block the site, based on Law 5651, which permits the government to regulate online content in the broadest way possible.
Wikipedia was asked to remove the content that upset the Turkish officials, but the company refused, as you'd expect from it. Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales posted on Twitter that access to information was a fundamental human right. "Turkish people, I will always stand with you and fight for this right," Wales wrote.
A history of silencing uncomfortable voices
The blockade seems to have been instated around 8 AM local time on Saturday morning, according to monitoring group Turkey Blocks. This is a project that has been working on identifying and validating reports of Internet mass-censorship in Turkey, which says the noticed loss of traffic was consistent with "Internet filters used to censor content in the country."
Over the past few years, Turkey has toughened its stance regarding freedom of speech. The country's government has decided to block numerous sites over time, including Wikileaks, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Social media was generally blocked around times of social unrest. Furthermore, numerous journalists have been arrested, while others have been imprisoned for expressing an anti-Erdogan stance.
This new blockade will do nothing to alleviate the fears that Turkey is losing its grip on human rights and that anyone who wants to criticize the country's president will be punished.