global voices, one world

A great op-ed by Palfrey and Zittrain in the Turkish Daily News on March 5, 2008 outlines the choices that Turkey is facing now with regard to the internet. As they argue, Turkey has a decision to take.

Does one choose to embrace the innovation and creativity that the Internet brings with it, albeit along with some risk of people doing and saying harmful things? Or does one start down the road of banning entire zones of the Internet, whether online Web sites or new technologies like peer-to-peer services or live videoblogging?

This is a choice that most countries have to take. What I would have wanted to see a bit more in the op-ed was tailoring this question to the particular situation and context Turkey is in that shapes how they are going to decide on this issue. How should the fact that Turkey seeks entry to the European Union informs this decision towards a more open or more closed internet? What about the unique situation of Turkey as a secular country with a Muslim majority? What about the hot button topic of the Kurdish minority? How do these questions come into play when deciding on how much generativity to allow? One concern of mine is that this debate will be framed as choosing between either innovation and creativity, or national security and stability. How do we alleviate their concern? How do you advice a government and a public that is deciding on this issue with these questions in mind?

EDIT: John Palfrey’s blog has a slightly more elaborate and detailed argument on the Turkey case.