In Turkey, new technologies reinforce repression

After the apprehension of Istanbul's mayor, authorities made societal networks inaccessible successful the metropolis by reducing net bandwidth. Photo: Yasin AKGUL / AFP
Source: AFP

With anti-government protests sweeping crossed Turkey, the authorities person utilized each technological means to effort to curb them, from restricting net entree to utilizing facial designation to place protesters, who person been forced to adapt.

Amid a prohibition connected protests, astir 2,000 radical person been arrested successful transportation with the demonstrations that erupted connected March 19 pursuing the detention of Istanbul's politician Ekrem Imamoglu connected graft charges.

As good arsenic those apprehended successful the streets, galore others person been arrested successful pre-dawn raids astatine their homes aft being identified from footage oregon photos taken by the constabulary during the demonstrations.

So far, 13 Turkish journalists person been detained for covering the protests, including AFP lensman Yasin Akgul, who was charged with "taking portion successful amerciable rallies and marches" connected the ground of images changeable by the police.

For Orhan Sener, a integer technologies expert, the usage of technology marks a large departure from 2013, erstwhile a tiny protestation against plans to demolish Gezi Park successful cardinal Istanbul snowballed into a question of nationalist unrest implicit the regularisation of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was premier curate astatine the time.

"The information forces' accusation exertion capabilities person accrued considerably since then," Sener said.

"During the Gezi movement, the protesters dominated societal networks and the constabulary weren't capable to place them," helium said.

"But today, erstwhile you articulation a objection successful Turkey, your look is recognised by a camera and the strategy cross-references it with your illustration connected societal networks."

Faces masked

Many protesters are covering their faces to debar being identified by facial designation technologies. Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP
Source: AFP

Faced with specified a risk, galore demonstrators are present covering their heads and faces with hats, masks and scarves.

In Istanbul, constabulary person often surrounded protesters and ordered them to uncover their faces truthful they can beryllium filmed, refusing to fto them spell if they bash not, generating wide distress for galore young people, AFP correspondents said.

"Every means of unit generates a countermeasure. We volition soon spot greater usage of antithetic clothing, glasses oregon make-up to thwart facial designation technologies," said Arif Kosar, who specialises successful the interaction of caller technologies.

"But I don't deliberation facial designation exertion is the main root of unit today. The usage of disinformation to smear the protests, oregon neutralise and disagreement them, plays a much important role," helium said.

Erdogan has denounced the protests arsenic "street terror", accusing participants of "vandalising" a mosque and a cemetery, charges the absorption has denied.

"Authoritarian regimes present cognize however to usage the net to their advantage. They person recovered ways of censoring it," Sener said.

"But supra all, they usage it for their ain propaganda."

'Moving towards a surveillance state'

Immediately aft Imamoglu's apprehension successful a pre-dawn raid, which helium recounted connected X earlier being taken away, the authorities started reducing bandwidth for net users successful Istanbul, rendering entree to societal networks intolerable for 42 hours.

They besides asked the societal media level X to adjacent much than 700 accounts belonging to journalists, quality organisations, governmental figures and students among others, the level said.

"There was nary tribunal determination down the bandwidth simplification oregon the bid to artifact X accounts. These measures were enactment successful spot arbitrarily," said Yaman Akdeniz, a instrumentality prof and caput of Turkey's Freedom of Expression Association (IFOD).

He said determination was authorities being prepared that would necessitate messaging services specified arsenic WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram to unfastened offices successful Turkey and disclose users' identities to the authorities.

"We are moving towards a surveillance state," Akdeniz said.

Since 2020, net work providers person provided information connected online activities and the individuality of net users to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), the absorption quality website Medyascope revealed successful 2022.

"By law, the BTK tin lone support the information collected for 2 years. However, we person seen information going backmost 10 years being provided to prosecutors during the probe into the Istanbul mayor," Akdeniz said.

"This information retention, contempt the law, for purposes which are unknown, opens the mode for arbitrary practices," helium said.

For Sener, activism successful the existent satellite and online "used to beryllium 2 antithetic worlds, but present they are intertwined".

With facial recognition, "the authorities is trying to discourage radical from joining demonstrations, portion hindering their mobilisation done societal networks," helium said.

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Source: AFP