AKP fights Turkish 'porn lobby' for Internet purity
New Internet legislation may yet backfire on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party.
"This could be the last banner you click on," read main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP) ad on several news Web pages. After days of real and virtual protests, the "Do not touch my Internet" campaign will have utterly failed in Turkey when a new law goes into effect, known widely as "the Internet law." The bill has been approved in parliament and went to the president for his signature. He could veto it, but judging from his record of using veto powers, that is not a realistic expectation. There is some probability that after the opposition complains, the Constitutional Court may revoke the bill. Yet, the probability is rather low. Based on the Justice and Department Party (AKP)’s shrewd tradition of passing "high moral laws: morals to protect the youth," many in Turkey are considering this a done deal.
What is not yet known is how this law will affect those inside Turkey, including the AKP itself. Unlike the other restrictive rules and regulations (alcohol and coed dorms come to mind), this one applies to a significantly large audience — almost all of the country. It will also affect AKP voters.
This last restriction might blow back on the AKP. It is estimated that 50% of Turks have Internet connections in their homes; many illegally share with neighbors and the numbers are rising. On Feb. 8 — even though mainstream media did not have the courage to cover it — there were again protests against the "Internet law" in Istanbul and Ankara. Twitter was abuzz with photos and resistance statements. "Tayyip [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan] has unfollowed us on Facebook," "Tayyip your quota is full," "The Internet is not working, come out to the streets," "Tayyip cannot shake off the Gezi syndrome" were some of the most visible slogans of the day.
Why are the Turks so angry? Well, if you would like to get the official view, you will probably learn a new term: "porn lobby." Known as pro-AKP, the Star daily published a piece explaining how the opposition to the Internet law came from the porn lobby. Hence, I must put a disclaimer here: I do not belong to the porn lobby. Indeed, I have been quite proud of AKP operations for bringing anyone involved in child pornography to justice. However, for adults I am not sure if all issues of morality should be criminalized so readily. The AKP used the "child protection" excuse, just as they had with alcohol restrictions, with the new Internet legislation.
