JURIST - Paper Chase: Turkish government restricts more Google services for 'legal reasons'

[JURIST] Turkey’s Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB) has indefinitely restricted several Google [corporate website] services, including Google Docs and Google Translate, due to "legal reasons," according to local news reports [Hurriyet report]. The TIB, which controls Internet accessibility in Turkey, released a statement Friday stating that it has blocked certain Google IP addresses. The formal announcement came after several Internet service providers and costumers reported slow service and inaccessibility to the website. The Google services that are currently being restricted include docs.google.com, translate.google.com, books.google.com, google-analytics.com and tools.google.com. Blocking these services will make it harder for Turkish users to access YouTube indirectly.

Turkey implemented a controversial ban on the popular video-sharing website YouTube [JURIST report] in 2008 in response to video clips purportedly insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk [Turkish News profile]. In Turkey, insulting Ataturk is an imprisonable offense. Similarly, "insulting the Turkish identity" is a serious crime under the controversial Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder; JURIST news archive] of Turkey's penal code [text, in Turkish].