The Reason behind Banning Websites Using Children as an Excuse is the Failure of Parents/Adults to Make Efforts to Learn Developing Technology Together with Young People (and Make Democratic Decisions).

Hello, I’ve been keeping this thought in the background of my mind for a long time; What is my opinion and I decided to put it in writing to express it. Sorry I’m a little late. Before getting into the subject, I should point out that what I will write here is generally "Someone should think about the welfare of the children!" (Won’t somebody think of the children!) rhetoric of tactics This is to support the claim that it is wrong to use it to ban web pages from the top level. I will not present arguments for other reasons (illegal trade, activity, etc.). For this, I took the time to categorize my arguments: decision-making level, democratic decision-making process, ethical wrongness of the tactic, and communication between parent/adult and child/adolescent.

I will try to convey the parts to you as quickly as possible. I know that some of the users who will read this are young children staying with their parents. They deserve to know the truth about what they need to talk about so that they can talk to their families about the restrictions on their access to the internet and how the ban decisions affect them (if the family respects the child’s words and pays attention in the first place…). Otherwise, talking about each banned site specifically, as it is now, does not get us anywhere. It is important for me to be able to convey these to you in plain language, so that you can convey them to your family when necessary.

Decision Making Level: Who Worships Guvennet?

This part is the primary and most important argument of my article and forms the basis for the other parts. Every major internet provider service in Turkey offers safe internet service. third party/institution SafenetIt categorizes ‘s web pages and presents them to us as Family and Child service profiles. By contacting your internet provider or on their website, somewhere under the subscription process. "I want/do not want to receive Guvennet internet service" You can make your choice. In other words, parents who want to protect their children on the internet or those who use internet service at home for various needs of their family can do so if they wish. READY They can find a solution somehow. This is just one example of how internet restrictions do not necessarily need to be made at the highest level. You don’t have to have much technological knowledge for this.

Another good thing about Guvennet is that you can check the security level, especially if there is a web page you are curious about. You can question. (Although entering the security codes correctly is a problem…) This means that those who want to receive this service can make an informed choice. if at home "computer savvy" If there is someone (this is usually young people) and without using this service If you decide to restrict just one or two web pages, you can take advantage of filtering/blocking tools at the modem/router level, the PC level, and even the browser level. I’m sure you can find many helpful videos and guide articles. So, parents do not have to wait for BTK to ban a web page. They have been using this website from the time it was brought up until it was (often inevitably) banned Young people can talk to their families, and they can inform their families whether this web page is harmful to them or not, by inquiring from Guvennet. For example, Reddit is suitable for the Family profile but its suitability for the Kids profile is unknown, and Steam is categorized as suitable for the Family profile but not suitable for the Kids profile.

However, as an adult, I have neither seen a parent using this service effectively nor watched a public service announcement announcing the existence of this service. If we use data from TURKSTAT 95% of Turkey’s households can access the internet either via landline or mobile line. According to Uraloğlu, the Minister responsible for Transport and Infrastructure, although he is not aware of Guvennet 44 million people in Turkey receive secure internet service. Well, Total number of households (2023) 26,309,332 is Uraloğlu’s 44 million / average number of households (2022) So if we say 3.17, it means roughly 13,970,662 households have secure internet. Half of the households… but who wears Guvennet?

*Note: I used more current data because I considered the difference in the number of households data between 2023 and 2022 (26,309,332-26,075,365=233,967) minimal. It doesn’t significantly affect my results.

Democratic Decision Making Process

This article does not attempt to advertise Guvennet or praise the blessing. I have given Reddit and Steam sample queries above. Now let me talk about Roblox: Roblox is only restricted in the Child profile, so you can enter Roblox with the internet connection to the family profile!… I can’t say that because Making decisions at the highest level puts a barrier that only 0.5% of the family profile users, who make up 99.5% of Guvennet users, will accept and all those who do not use Guvennet. Aren’t the percentages eye-opening?

You can say that this is because no one makes a query on the Guvennet website and does not rate the web page they query. This may be a very valid counter-argument, but your shedding light on this possibility gives me the right to offer a counter-argument: In Turkey, the public can democratically restrict web pages by voting if they wish.but he does not use this right. Ratings on Safenet are not currently important to our general internet access, but if they were used there would be significant consensus for the accessibility of web pages.

The Ethical Fallacy of the Tactic

Let’s summarize the two parts above: There are services and tools from the smallest to the largest corporate level to use the internet safely in Turkey. However, even though half of the total households benefit from these on paper, they still wait for instructions from the top and do not benefit from the opportunity to make a democratic choice between blocking and keeping it open individually, as a family or as a society. If children’s safety on the internet is so important, why don’t parents make an effort specifically for their children? Children to your family "you don’t care about my well-being" It’s hard to say, and it hurts everyone’s feelings, including yours. instead What you need to do here is to ensure that your family learns about the internet by talking to them, without having to rely on government officials, and to instill the awareness that you are browsing web pages safely. Surfing the internet is mostly a personal activity and they may be suspicious of themselves without knowing what you are doing. If they use Guvennet and know that you are safe on a web page, please ask on Guvennet’s inquiry page. "ACCESS/NOT ACCESS this web page in Family/Child profiles" Let them make their voices heard. They may also seek your well-being by defending your right to access. Wouldn’t it be nice if they knew that you can have fun with your friends via Discord, that you can learn a language, practice writing and speaking, and that there are many other benefits such as solidarity in earthquakes and being able to do business over the internet?

As a result, if a parent does not want his child to access harmful pages on the Internet, but does not make an effort to ensure this, this tactic is just asking for wishes from others. It remains a fallacy because it is a tactic that appeals to emotions and does not go beyond hoping. Remember that anyone, adult or child, can use this fallacy, and it is an indisputable fact that it is wrong.

Communication Between Parent/Adult and Child/Youth

As mentioned in the section above, communication within the family is very important for all of us to access the internet (whether we use Güvenlinet or not). Because, considering that the internet is generally a service provided to households rather than individuals (either an adult pays for a landline, or their mobile lines are paid to their parents until their children reach a certain age). It seems that decisions taken for security should be at the family/household level. One level above is nonsense, one level below is the democratic right to vote and be elected and the right to obtain an internet subscription, which children have not yet used. That’s why communication is important. Families should hear the voices of children and young people first.

In fact, some of you are already doing what I want to say in conclusion. Just like children convincing their mother or father to vote in elections, families and ultimately the society should be able to reach a common decision in daily life. The options we have are not just to protest or get around the ban. I know, I want you to choose a difficult alternative. In fact, I want you to choose this along with your other options. Türkiye is not an easy country to live in. I’m sorry for asking you to do this on top of everything else in your life, guys… but that’s all I can tell you. I have blown your mind with about one thousand one hundred and eleven words. Thanks for reading.