Turkish court demands immediate lifting of Twitter blockade

The Turkish Constitutional Court has ruled that the blocking of Twitter violates freedom of expression. According to the court, the authorities must therefore immediately lift the blockade of the social network service.

At the behest of the Turkish government led by Prime Minister Erdogan, telecom watchdog TIB had Twitter blocked. The blockade was established on March 21. According to the government, Twitter has allegedly invaded privacy, but opponents of Erdogan spoke of censorship in the run-up to last weekend’s municipal elections, in which the president was heavily criticized.

A lower court in the Turkish capital Ankara last week ruled that Twitter’s blockade should be lifted, but it was not complied with. However, on Wednesday the Turkish Constitutional Court, the highest judicial body in Turkey, called on the authorities to end the Twitter blockade with immediate effect. The blockade would be in violation of freedom of expression, de Volkskrant reports. It is not yet clear whether the court’s request will be granted.

The Turkish constitutional court has not ruled on the blocking of YouTube and Tor. Moreover, in an attempt to maintain the blockade, Turkish providers use the hijacking of data traffic to foreign DNS servers, a controversial method that has not proved watertight.