ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people protesting in central Istanbul on Saturday (February 8) against new controls on the Internet approved by parliament this week.
The new powers, once approved by the president, will let authorities block web pages within hours, in what the opposition has said is part of a government bid to stifle discussion of a corruption scandal.
Riot police advanced along Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue behind armored vehicles firing water cannon at protesters, some of whom waved flags and held up placards.
Some demonstrators responded by throwing stones or setting off fireworks aimed at police before scattering into side streets.
The government says the Internet reform measure sent to parliament before the graft inquiry became public late last year is aimed at protecting individual privacy and not gagging its critics.
The corruption scandal erupted on Dec. 17 with the
