Recep Tayyip Erdogan further tightened the control of the Internet in Turkey. The President has signed a bill that also facilitates the blocking of websites. Even without a court order.

The opposition has already announced an appeal to the Constitutional Court: In Turkey, the control of the Internet is tightened again. Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed late Thursday a law that makes it easier to block access to websites without a court order.

The telecom authority TIB can justify it with “national security, the restoration of public order and the prevention of crime.” In February, the Turkish parliament had passed an Internet law that was criticized as a serious attack on freedom of expression. At the instigation of the then head of state Abdullah Gül was subsequently defused.

Erdogan was still Prime Minister in February. The then Prime Minister was accused of wanting to stop with the law reports on the internet about allegations of corruption against his government. In March, the short message service Twitter was temporarily blocked in Turkey.

Erdogan was elected last month to succeed Gül. For the corruption scandal he makes an alleged conspiracy of his rival Fethullah Gülen responsible, an Islamic cleric who lives in the USA.

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