Turkey’s latest censorship bid is actually not much different than what YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are already doing.
Turkey is now regulating Internet broadcasts, according to Bloomberg, and video streaming services will have to apply for permits to broadcast their content in the country.
But when you compare the details of Turkey’s censorship program, you’ll start to realize that a lot of it is similar to the “community standards” used by Silicon Valley to censor conservative and libertarian voices.
Just take a look at the following from the Bloomberg piece:
The regulation will require online video streaming companies and pay-TV services to apply for a license from the watchdog, known by its Turkish initials RTUK. Courts can block access for Turkish users if the necessary permits aren’t secured.
So, to obtain a license in Turkey, you have to adhere to a specific set of standards enacted by the watchdog.
Similarly, to stay on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter (aka keeping a “license”), you also have to abide to a specific set of standards enacted by the sites’ watchdogs, many of whom adhere to anti-free speech “social justice warrior” ideologies and are thus similar to Turkish censors.
RTUK has become notorious for aggressively handing out penalties or banning broadcasts that it judges to be immoral, inconsistent with Turkish family values, or that stray from the government line on politics.
That sounds just like censorship on YouTube, especially with the site’s recent purge of Second Amendment videos.
“According to YouTube’s updated restrictions, the site no longer allows content that ‘Intends to sell firearms or certain firearms accessories through direct sales…or links to sites that sell these items,’” according to Infowars’ Jamie White. “The unprecedented decision is a major move against free speech, as there are thousands of gun channels on YouTube who didn’t receive any warning of the upcoming ‘transition.’”
The move came in response to a push for gun control launched by the mainstream media, particularly CNN, in the aftermath of recent school shootings.
In other words, YouTube banned gun videos it judged to be inconsistent with Google’s “values” and stray from the establishment’s line on politics.
Of course, critics will argue that Google is a “private company” who can censor anyone at will, but is it really? It’s well documented that the CIA had a hand in developing Google.
“…The United States intelligence community funded, nurtured and incubated Google as part of a drive to dominate the world through control of information,” reported Nafeez Ahmed of Medium. “Seed-funded by the NSA and CIA, Google was merely the first among a plethora of private sector start-ups co-opted by US intelligence to retain ‘information superiority.’”
And Kim Dotcom also revealed that Silicon Valley is deeply tied to the Deep State:
Unfortunately all big US Internet companies are in bed with the deep state. Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. are all providing backdoors to your data. You may have noticed they all favor the Democrats. Why? Obama made them feel special for sharing your data. Privileges!
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) February 28, 2018
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