Turkey's digital freedoms are under threat after Ali Erbas, the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate in Turkey, suggested that citizens’ social media usage should be controlled to align with Islamic values. After Turkey's opposition parties and bar associations criticized the leading government for mixing religion and law, Erbas fanned the flames by suggesting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tighten the government's control of social media — a move that aligns with Erdoğan's previous policy positions.
He shared his remarks during a prayer ceremony to mark the start of the judicial year on September 1. His name has dominated the news cycle ever since.
Erbas's thoughts on social media are not new. Earlier this year, the Religious Affairs Directorate published a book titled, “Social Media Ethics” (“Sosyal Medya Ahlakı“). In the foreword to the book, the religious cleric wrote,
It is essential to build a strong awareness, as well as the legal mechanism that determines the legal framework for the use of social media. In particular, it is necessary to develop a self-control system shaped by the awareness that God is watching over us everywhere, and at all times.
Sometimes, continued Erbas in his foreword, laws may not be enough to regulate social media, therefore the cleric suggested resorting to “fiqh” or Islamic jurisprudence. “Fiqh, which imposes both worldly and otherworldly responsibilities on individuals for the behaviors they display, and has the direction of...
Read Full Story: https://globalvoices.org/2021/09/10/in-turkey-religious-cleric-joins-calls-to-censor-social-media/
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