Sunday a great number of Turks protested against new Internet controls introduced by the Turkish government. The protesters expressed their objection both online and on the streets.

Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which is commonly known as BTK, adopted new rules that will require users to choose one of four filters before accessing the Internet, according to media reports. The family, children, domestic or standard filters will result in different levels of filtering. The list of websites that will be blocked by each filter is classified, said Reporters Without Borders. The rules come into effect August 22.

"This measure is a complete violation of both the European Convention on Human Right and Turkey's own constitution," Reporters Without Borders said earlier this month. "Everyone should be guaranteed unrestricted access to the Internet."

Users are suspicious that the BTK will filter web sites even when the standard option is selected. BTK could not be immediately reached for comment.

Under the new rules, the BTK would have total control over which internet sites are blocked under the filters and could add or remove sites without users' knowledge, giving it the power to ban thousands of websites without any good reason, the petition said.

It questioned the BTK's claim that they are providing families with an important service, and added that the filters are already available for download by anyone who wishes to install them.
 

Walking Against the Censorship of Internet in Turkey from Alper Kanat on Vimeo.