TURKEY: Twitter says it has filed lawsuits in local Turkish courts to challenge a block on its service in the country

Record ID: 858024

  • Title: TURKEY: Twitter says it has filed lawsuits in local Turkish courts to challenge a block on its service in the country
  • Date: 26th March 2014
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (MARCH 26, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ANKARA COURTHOUSE ENTRANCE OF COURTHOUSE SIGN OF ANKARA COURTHOUSE EXTERIOR OF TURKISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY (TIB) HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF SIGN OF TURKISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • City:
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Communications,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABRWUZHQ2WKJ103PWZHDE5XJ7M
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Twitter has filed lawsuits in Turkish courts to challenge a block on the service imposed by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government last week, the social media platform said in a statement on Wednesday (March 26).
    It said it had suspended content related to two of three court orders given as the legal basis for the ban because they violated its own rules. But it was challenging a third order to remove an account accusing a former minister of corruption.
    Twitter's statement came as an Ankara court upheld an appeal against the ban that has provoked public outrage and drawn international condemnation only days ahead of critical local elections.
    Turkey's telecoms authority, TIB, blocked access to Twitter on Friday (March 21) as Erdogan battles a corruption scandal in which a stream of anonymous postings purportedly revealing government wrongdoing have been posted on the social media platform.
    Erdogan's critics see the move as the latest in a series of authoritarian steps to crush a graft scandal which has grown into the biggest challenge of his 11-year rule.
    Tech-savvy Turks have quickly found workarounds, with Internet analysts reporting a surge in tweets since the ban was imposed, but the issue has become a tug-of-war between Erdogan's administration and the San Francisco-based microblogging site.
    Istanbul resident Aysin Turgut said the ban would not stop Turkish citizens using Twitter.

    "This decision is wrong. Many people are using Twitter and they should be aware that no matter how they ban it, people will continue to access Twitter because they love it. Once they banned YouTube and we all accessed YouTube at that time," said Aysin.
    Fellow Istanbul resident Yuksel Gencer told Reuters the ban was a breach of personal freedoms aimed solely at protecting the government.

    "They shouldn't ban Twitter. They limit all people's freedom," said Yuksel, adding "Twitter does no harm to anyone except for themselves. They ban it and curb people's freedoms only because they think it will damage their reputation."
    Others decried the ban as "not legal", saying Twitter users would find other ways of accessing the site.
    The telecoms authority has 30 days to implement or appeal the Ankara court's decision. The regulator did not immediately comment.
    The ruling would allow the ban to stay in place until critical municipal elections are held on Sunday (March 30).
    Sunday's polls have assumed huge significance as a test for Erdogan as he fights graft accusations he says were fabricated by a former ally, U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
    Recent weeks have seen almost daily anonymous internet release of tapes of telephone conversations suggesting Erdogan was involved in corruption. The prime minister calls them "montages".
    Reuters has not been able to verify the authenticity of the leaked recordings.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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