The government grants itself more power to censor the web
TURKEY’s conspiracy theorists have had their hands full of late, uncovering the dark powers responsible for the collapse of the country’s currency, which has lost almost a fifth of its value against the dollar this year, attempts by foreigners to murder President Recep Tayyip Erdogan using telekinesis, and a coup attempt set in motion by a biscuit commercial. Now they have exposed a new plot—produced by Netflix. In early April, days after the streaming company released a new trailer for “Casa de Papel”, a popular series, a pro-government journalist concluded the video contained “subliminal messages” intended to trigger “an economic coup d’état, political assassinations, a wave of terror attacks, or a new treacherous scheme containing them all”. A former mayor of Ankara, the capital, immediately linked the show’s theme song to demonstrations which rocked Turkey in 2013, and called on the authorities to investigate. Weeks later, another pundit suggested that the series was to blame for an unseemly brawl at a football match between two Istanbul teams, a sure sign that outside powers were stirring up chaos ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections set for June 24th.
To the dismay of some, Mr Erdogan’s government has taken no action against Netflix. But it has granted itself the power to do so. Under a law passed by parliament in late March, streaming and digital TV services, both domestic and foreign, will have to register with Turkey’s media watchdog, known as RTUK, and abide by the same rules as television broadcasters. RTUK can impose penalties, revoke licences, force providers to censor or withdraw content, and ask the courts to block access to those who do not comply. The risk is far from abstract. TV shows in Turkey have been repeatedly fined for “immoral” content. On screen, cigarettes and booze are replaced with blurred pixels, or with pictures of flowers. The authorities have occasionally blocked access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, citing national security. Wikipedia has been banned for more than a year for refusing to take down posts alleging Turkish support for jihadists in Syria.
“Casa de Papel” and similar shows are probably safe. The bigger danger is to Turkish online-news platforms, which have thrived by offering an alternative to the toothless coverage produced by mainstream outlets, and which will now be placed under RTUK’s supervision. Mr Erdogan’s government already keeps the conventional media on a tight leash, says Kerem Altiparmak, a lawyer and cyber-rights activist. “Now it wants the internet too.”