Technology

Turkey unblocks access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

Move follows an Istanbul court’s order to remove images of a slain prosecutor that were deemed to abet terrorism

Turkey blocked access to Twitter and YouTube on April 6th, 2015 over the publication of photographs of an Istanbul prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants hours before he was killed in a shootout, officials said. Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said a prosecutor had sought the block on access to social media sites because some media organisations had acted “as if they were spreading terrorist propaganda” in sharing the images. (Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Tue Apr 7 2015 - 10:59

Turkey unblocked access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube after social media websites followed an Istanbul court's order to remove images of a slain prosecutor that were deemed to abet terrorism.

Facebook and Twitter said they would appeal the court ruling even though they complied with it. The court's decision requires Google to follow suit or face suspension of its services in Turkey, state-run Anadolu news agency reported late Monday.

The search engine could still be accessed early Tuesday local time.

The Istanbul court demanded that the websites remove images of prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, who died April 1st from injuries sustained after he was taken hostage by members of leftist militant group DHKP-C.

READ MORE

Pictures of him with a gun held to his head were published by several newspapers and websites. The website ban came after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu criticised newspapers for publishing the pictures and highlights government efforts to increase its control over the internet. Davutoglu's ruling AK Party in March pushed a law through the parliament to allow the government to block websites without a court order. The European Union, which Turkey wants to be a member of, has said such bans curb freedom of speech.

Bloomberg

LATEST STORIES