Turkcell Superonline: Difference between revisions

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In 2011, a hacktivist group called Telecomix claimed that Syria was using Blue Coat Systems products to censor the internet and these allegations were investigated by the US government. Citizen Lab's research has also provided evidence of Blue Coat devices being used for censorship and surveillance in countries like Turkey and Syria.<ref>[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/blue-coat-acknowledges-syrian-government-use-its-products Blue Coat: Concern for Criminal Penalties, Not Human Rights]</ref>
In 2011, a hacktivist group called Telecomix claimed that Syria was using Blue Coat Systems products to censor the internet and these allegations were investigated by the US government. Citizen Lab's research has also provided evidence of Blue Coat devices being used for censorship and surveillance in countries like Turkey and Syria.<ref>[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/blue-coat-acknowledges-syrian-government-use-its-products Blue Coat: Concern for Criminal Penalties, Not Human Rights]</ref>
[[File:Revolution of Bluecoat.png|thumb|519x519px|Picture Showing Symantec's Logo Over the Years]]
Blue Coat is acquired by Symantec. In 2017, Symantec acquired LifeLock, and renamed itself to NortonLifeLock in 2019. On July 20, 2021, Norton LifeLock released Norton Crypto, which would've mined Ethereum in the background in exchange for periodic payments. This drew criticism from users, as this was installed automatically, and many users reported having diffuculty uninstalling the program. In August 2021, NortonLifelock agreed to merge with the company Avast. After completing its merger with Avast in September 2022, the company adopted the name Gen Digital. In 2025 its portfolio includes Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG and CCleaner.


===Fair Usage Terms Incident (2012-2019)===
===Fair Usage Terms Incident (2012-2019)===
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Unlike traditional packet inspection, DPI technology also scans the content of data packets and provides the ability to detect and block VPN protocols. According to user reports, Superonline has one of the most strictly censored internet service in Turkey, and in the past has taken measures strict enough to completely block VPN protocols such as WireGuard. It also blocks or throttles popular VPN services and their websites such as Cloudflare Warp (connection itself), ProtonVPN (throttles the website, especially [https://protonvpn.com protonvpn.com] domain), Surfshark (throttles the website, up-to-date info required for connection), Psiphon (connection itself), NordVPN (throttles the website, up-to-date info required for connection), IPVanish/SpeedtestVPN (throttles the website and the connection itself) and constantly tightens its DPI-based scanning systems. There is also allegations that Superonline using DNS poisoning to block certain websites. They were blocking some third party DNS services in the past.
Unlike traditional packet inspection, DPI technology also scans the content of data packets and provides the ability to detect and block VPN protocols. According to user reports, Superonline has one of the most strictly censored internet service in Turkey, and in the past has taken measures strict enough to completely block VPN protocols such as WireGuard. It also blocks or throttles popular VPN services and their websites such as Cloudflare Warp (connection itself), ProtonVPN (throttles the website, especially [https://protonvpn.com protonvpn.com] domain), Surfshark (throttles the website, up-to-date info required for connection), Psiphon (connection itself), NordVPN (throttles the website, up-to-date info required for connection), IPVanish/SpeedtestVPN (throttles the website and the connection itself) and constantly tightens its DPI-based scanning systems. There is also allegations that Superonline using DNS poisoning to block certain websites. They were blocking some third party DNS services in the past.
===Currently Unavailable Websites Due to Censorship===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Website
!Description
!Estimated monthly active users
!Block start date
|-
|Smashwords
|E-book publishing platform
|~1 000 000
|2025-02-05
|-
|Bento
|German culture and lifestyle news site
|~200 000
|2024-12-18
|-
|Tango
|Video calling and social networking app
|~50 000 000
|2024-12-12
|-
|IMVU
|3D avatar–based virtual chat and gaming platform
|~10 000 000
|2024-10-03
|-
|Discord
|Voice, video, and text chat application
|~200 000 000
|2024-09-10
|-
|Roblox
|Online platform for user-created games
|~230 000 000
|2024-07-29
|-
|Wattpad
|Social reading network for user-written stories
|~90 000 000
|2024-06-02
|-
|talkSPORT
|Sports-focused online radio channel
|~5 000 000
|2024-04-22
|-
|laut.fm
|Personalized internet radio service
|~1 000 000
|2023-12-28
|-
|OnlyFans
|Subscription-based content creator platform
|~120 000 000
|2023-06-29
|-
|Beacons
|Content and payment toolkit for creators
|~500 000
|2022-05-01
|-
|iHeart
|US-based radio and podcast network
|~110 000 000
|2022-05-01
|-
|National Film Board of Canada
|Canada’s national film production and distribution agency
|~3 000 000
|2022-05-01
|-
|DW
|Germany’s international broadcaster (Deutsche Welle)
|~60 000 000
|2022-01-21
|-
|VOA Turkish
|Voice of America Turkish service
|~10 000 000
|2022-01-21
|-
|4chan
|Anonymous imageboard site
|~20 000 000
|2021-11-25
|-
|Radio Garden
|Platform for listening to global radio stations via map
|~1 500 000
|2021-07-30
|-
|Issuu
|Digital magazine and catalog publishing service
|~50 000 000
|2020-12-07
|-
|Charlie Hebdo
|French satirical magazine
|~2 000 000
|2020-10-10
|-
|Mezopotamya Ajansı
|Regional news and analysis agency
|~100 000
|2018-10-29
|-
|TuneIn
|Internet radio and podcast app
|~75 000 000
|2018-01-21
|-
|WikiLeaks
|Platform for leaking and publishing confidential documents
|~500 000
|2016-07-29
|-
|Kızıl Bayrak
|Left-leaning daily newspaper
|~20 000
|2015-07-23
|-
|Umut Gazetesi (Translation: Hope Gazzette)
|Local and community-focused news newspaper
|~15 000
|2015-07-01
|-
|ETHA
|Etkin News Agency
|~10 000
|2014-06-27
|-
|Grindr
|Social and dating app for LGBTQIA+ individuals
|~12 000 000
|2013-07-02
|-
|PasteBin
|Text and code sharing service
|~25 000 000
|2012-06-12
|-
|AVN
|Adult entertainment industry news portal
|~1 000 000
|2011-04-27
|-
|Playboy
|Adult lifestyle and culture magazine
|~3 000 000
|2009-10-27
|-
|Shoutcast
|Internet radio streaming protocol and directory
|~500 000
|2007-11-12
|-
|Tagged
|Social discovery and networking site
|~5 000 000
|2007-08-04
|}
===Historically Unavailable Websites Due to Censorship===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Site
!Date(s)
!Reason for Blocking
!Notes
|-
|YouTube
|6 March 2007; 17 January 2008; 13 March 2008; 3 November 2010; 27 March 2014; 6 April 2015
|Blasphemy against Atatürk and Turkish nation; videos of Deniz Baykal; recordings of FM Davutoğlu; media coverage of Savcı Mehmet Selim Kiraz's murder
|Blocks lifted after content removal.
|-
|Wikipedia
|29 April 2017 – January 2020
|Content allegedly showing Turkey's collaboration with terrorist organizations
|Wikimedia objections; #WeMissTurkey campaign; access restored in 2020.
|-
|Ekşi Sözlük (Translation: Sour Dictionary)
(Pretty popular social media in Turkey mixing Urban Dictionary and Twitter's features)
|February 2023
|"Information pollution" related to Kahramanmaraş earthquakes
|Previous intermittent blocks.
|-
|Twitter (X)
|20 March 2014; 6 April 2015
|Alleged recordings of FM Davutoğlu and MIT Undersecretary; media coverage of Savcı Kiraz's murder
|Briefly unblocked on 3 April 2014 by Constitutional Court; access restored after content removal.
|-
|Last.fm & MySpace
|Around 2010
|Copyright infringement
|Objections from independent musicians; currently accessible.
|-
|Imgur
|2015 – February 2020
|Sharing of Savcı Kiraz's images
|Access restored in February 2020.
|-
|Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, GitHub
|2016
|Minister Berat Albayrak's emails
|
|-
|WordPress
|2016
|Adnan Oktar-related content
|
|-
|Blogger / Blogspot
|2016
|Unauthorized streaming of football matches
|
|-
|Ateizm Derneği (Translation: Ateism Society)
|March 2015
|Public denigration of people's beliefs
|
|-
|Instagram
|2024
|Content restrictions (various reasons)
|
|-
|Others (~574,000 domains)
|2021
|Various legal decisions
|Total number of blocked domains
|}


===Information About Blocking of VPNs===
===Information About Blocking of VPNs===
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|Blocked (Protocol Ban)
|Blocked (Protocol Ban)
|Legally Required
|Legally Required
|
|Turkish authorities seized a physical ExpressVPN server in January 2017 as part of an investigation into the assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov. The raid aimed to identify individuals who used the VPN to remotely delete the assassin’s Gmail and Facebook accounts. The server contained no user logs.
|-
|-
|IPVanish
|IPVanish
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|CloudFlare Warp
|CloudFlare Warp
|No (Because the domain is for CloudFlare DNS and other services)
|No (Because the domain is for CloudFlare DNS and other services)
|Blocked
| - Blocked
- Only the app is blocked. If you convert your WARP config to Wireguard and manually connect to IP address it works.
|Blocked and Sometimes Blocks Cloudflare DNS Too
|Blocked and Sometimes Blocks Cloudflare DNS Too
|Legally Required
|Legally Required
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|Blocked (Closely monitored)
|Blocked (Closely monitored)
|Legally Required
|Legally Required
|
|-
|RiseupVPN
|No
|Not Blocked
|Blocked (Protocol Ban)
|
|
|
|}
|}