A Turkish court has just overruled the Turkish regime’s banning of social media website Twitter, just days after the country’s Telecommunications agency revoked access to the service.
Just six days after Turkey’s government seemingly unsuccessfully sought to block access to Twitter, an Ankara-based court has ruled against the decision. The move undermines the Turkish Prime Minister’s vow “to wipe out Twitter” ahead of elections in August.
Yesterday, the United Nation called on Turkey to stop blocking Twitter, saying Ankara could be breaching its international rights obligations by banning the social networking site.
“We are concerned that the blocking of access to Twitter on the 20th of March by the telecommunications agency may be incompatible with Turkey’s international human rights obligations,” said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights.
“The same rights that people have offline must also be protected online. So we would urge the authorities to rescind the blocking of Twitter,” Colville told reporters.
Just one day after the ban, the number of tweets from Turkey seemed to increase, according to the ‘Twitturk’ group which monitors Twitter use in Turkey.
The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), the Ankara Bar Associations, and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Oktay Vural all protested against the ban.
AFP contributed to this report
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