Assessment of the Constitutional Court's Decision on the Annulment of Various Phrases in the Access-Blocking Provisions of Law No. 5651

17 February 2018Murat Volkan DülgerCommentary

Introduction

This work was written in Turkish. The summary on this page is a translation; the citation gives the original title in parentheses.

The internet is without doubt one of the greatest innovations that technological developments have brought into our lives today. In this sphere, people can easily reach every kind of content to an extent never seen before, and can share that content and even content they have produced themselves. Moreover, in recent years in particular, it has become very common for people to produce and share written, visual and other kinds of content of their own. The internet is therefore a communication network, which may also be thought of as a large pool of information, in which people both easily reach and use existing content and share the content they produce. Alongside this individual use, the internet also has the character of a means of mass communication. Mass communication is distinguished from personal communication by its public character.

Personal communication is individual in nature, whereas mass communication, which covers broadcasts made in media such as television, radio and the internet, is public in nature and can easily reach very large audiences. Today people chat with one another over the internet, and every kind of written and visual content can be shared on various websites, social media platforms in particular, between two people, within a group or in the public sphere. Through such posts, individuals can state their opinion on any subject, comment on existing posts or describe themselves by creating a blog. The examples of the activities that people carry out on the internet could be multiplied without limit.