Turkey bans 467,000 websites

Turkey blocked 467,011 web addresses between the enactment of the internet law in 2007 and the end of 2020, according to the annual report of the Freedom of Expression Association.

Some 408,808 orders to block access to web addresses were imposed by 764 courts and administrative institutions in the given period, the report shows.

7,500 Twitter accounts, 50,000 tweets, 12,000 YouTube Videos, 8,000 Facebook posts and 6,800 Instagram posts are among the blocked addresses.

In the last year, 58,809 URLs were blocked and 89 percent or 52,185 of them were directly blocked by the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK).

Some 3,025 web addresses were blocked by courts, judgeships or prosecutors and the rest were blocked by various state institutions, including ministries.

Over 90% of the Turkish media is controlled by businessmen with close ties to Erdogan. In exchange for coverage provided by an army of sycophantic print and television journalists, their companies, many of them in the construction sector, receive lucrative government contracts.

But several studies suggest that a growing number of Turks are turning to independent digital outlets for their news. This, in turn, may explain why the government feels compelled to tighten the noose.