Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Highlighting the value of the Internet in Turkey
Monday, June 2, 2014
In the global battle for the free and open Internet, Turkey stands in the front lines. Web penetration is fast growing and the country’s young population is one of the world’s biggest per capita users of social networks. At the same time, these are challenging days for Internet freedom. In our view, the best way forward is to empower Turkey’s civil society to promote knowledge of how to manage and benefit from the web.
For the last year, we have supported a program called "Google Academy for NGOs." Our aim is to educate NGOs on web issues, cloud computing and Google tools. In the first phase of the program, the academy has run workshops in Istanbul and Ankara, training a total of 77 NGO representatives from 62 NGOs. Participants came from NGOs concentrating on human rights, environment, education, entrepreneurship and women’s rights.
Scenes for the Google Academy in Turkey
Before entering the Academy, only half of the trainees indicated that they have knowledge regarding Internet and cloud applications for civil society. Although some 70% indicated that they know and have enough knowledge on Google Search and Google Chrome, only 12% stated that they know
Google Good to Know
content that provides information on web security and fewer than 10% said that they know about
Google Trends
, which helps analyze search traffic.
Thanks to the program, most of the participants saw how the Internet could benefit their NGO. It will allow them to keep in communication with their volunteers, increase interaction with stakeholders and partners, and facilitate the development of new projects. Instead of having everyone travel for a meeting, many said they plan to use Google Hangouts to meet online.
The NGO Academy’s first “class” recently graduated. Three exemplary NGOs, received scholarships to attend a management program at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The winning projects came from:
LÖSEV Foundation for Children with Leukemia
is using Google+ Hangouts to allow hospitalized children to follow their school classes.
The Turkish Psychological Association
engages with its volunteers and members via Hangouts.
The TEMA environmental group
launched a “Step Saving the World” to raise awareness about soil erosion and deforestation. More than 100 university students are participating, sending reports on their findings via Google Docs and plan activities with Google Calendar
In June, we are completing a new, second phase of the program. Hopefully, the Google Academy will continue strengthening Turkey’s civil society to recognize the value of the Internet.
Posted by Pelin Kuzey, Policy Manager, Istanbul
Transparency Report: Government removal requests rise
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Cross-posted with
Official Google Blog
We
launched
the
Transparency Report
in 2010 to provide hard evidence of how laws and policies affect access to information online. Today, for the eighth time, we’re releasing new numbers showing
requests from governments to remove content
from our services. From January to June 2013, we received 3,846 government requests to remove 24,737 pieces of content—a 68 percent increase over the second half of 2012.
Over the past four years, one worrying trend has remained consistent: governments continue to ask us to remove political content. Judges have asked us to remove information that’s critical of them, police departments want us to take down videos or blogs that shine a light on their conduct, and local institutions like town councils don’t want people to be able to find information about their decision-making processes. These officials often cite defamation, privacy and even copyright laws in attempts to remove political speech from our services. In this particular reporting period, we received 93 requests to take down government criticism and removed content in response to less than one third of them. Four of the requests were submitted as copyright claims.
You can read more about these requests in the
Notes
section of the Transparency Report. In addition, we saw a significant increase in the number of requests we received from two countries in the first half of 2013:
There was a sharp increase in requests from
Turkey
. We received 1,673 requests from Turkish authorities to remove content from our platforms, nearly a tenfold increase over the second half of last year. About two-thirds of the total requests—1,126 to be exact—called for the removal of 1,345 pieces of content related to alleged violations of
law 5651
.
Another place where we saw an increase was
Russia
, where there has been an uptick in requests since a
blacklist law
took effect last fall. We received 257 removal requests during this reporting period, which is more than double the number of requests we received throughout 2012.
While the information we present in our Transparency Report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online, it does demonstrate a worrying upward trend in the number of government requests, and underscores the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests. As we continue to add data, we hope it will become increasingly useful and informative in policy debates and decisions around the world.
Posted by Susan Infantino, Legal Director
Transforming Turkey’s economy through the Internet
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Turkey represents a dramatic economic success story. While much of the rest of the world struggled with recession in 2011, its GDP expanded by 8.5 percent. Growth continued last year, with the OECD estimated at 2.9 percent, more than twice the OECD average. Within a decade, Turkey aims to become one of world’s the ten biggest economies.
To achieve this ambitious goal, we’re convinced that the country needs to embrace the Internet. The Turkish Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz, the US Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone, and a wide representation from the Turkish business and civil society recently joined us to launch Boston Consulting Group's report Turkey Online:
How the Internet Is Transforming The Turkish Economy
.
The study contained both promising news about the Internet’s impact in Turkey - and, crucially, recommendations on how to improve.
First the good news: the share of Turkish households with online access soared to 47.2 percent in 2012, up from 19.7 percent in 2007. Turkey’s Internet economy is expected to grow by 19 percent annually through 2017.
Much remains to be done. The Internet contributes an estimated 22 billion Turkish Lira to GDP - a mere 1.7% of Turkey’s overall GDP. A deep digital divide exists, with Istanbul and Ankara ahead in adopting the Internet while eastern Anatolia lags.
How could Turkey do better? Boston Consulting urges swift government action to bring the entire country online, by encouraging private-public partnerships and increasing school programs that teach digital literacy. Efficient e-government services should be built. Such initiatives will encourage entrepreneurs to improve productivity by using e-procurement and other web-based services.
As Turkey’s economy grows and mature, it needs to move from a manufacturing-based to an information-oriented society. Policy makers have a key part to play in creating an environment that unleashes the Internet’s growth opportunities.
Posted by Pelin Kuzey, Public Policy & Government Relations Manager Turkey
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