TRNC Information Technologies and Communication Authority block access to 7 news sites

The TRNC Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTHK) has block access to 7 news websites with no identity document following a complaint by the Journalists Union.

The Turkish Cypriot Journalists Union (KTGB) announced that it has filed a complaint with BTHK regarding some internet news sites that publish without an annotation, in order to protect the dignity of the journalism profession.

According to the statement made by the union, BTHK decided to block access to 7 internet news sites reported by KTGB due to their unlawfulness and notified the relevant authorities.

The statement included excerpts from the letter written by BTHK President Kadri Bürüncük, who responded to KTGB's letter dated August 21, 2024, as a result of the legal and technical examination conducted by the Institution in accordance with the authority granted to it by Article 15(2)(B) of the Cyber ​​Crimes Law No. 32/2020.

Accordingly, BTHK President Bürüncük stated that it was determined that the internet news sites subject to the complaint did not contain legal imprint information.

Bürüncük announced that it decided to block access to the URLs of the sites with the domain names www.kibrisxhaber.com, www.kibrishaber.com, www.ulakgazetesi.com, www.sporhaberajansi.com, https://lefkoşa.online/, https://kibrisdakik.com/index.php/kunye/ and https://kibristagundem.com with its letter numbered BTHK-BSY/2024-02 and dated 22/08/2024, due to their non-compliance with rule 15(2)(A) of the law.

Bürüncük noted that upon the application of KTGB, a notification was sent to the access providers today to block access to the sites in question for two days.

In its statement, the Turkish Cypriot Journalists Union also called for the union to report any online news sites that continue their publications without any identification information.