Turkey’s Wikipedia blockade is illegal, according to Turkish court’s highest court

Blocking Wikipedia in Turkey violates freedom of expression, according to the highest Turkish court. Turkey closed off access to the online encyclopedia in 2017. It is not yet clear whether and when the blockade will be lifted.

The Turkish Constitutional Court ruled in a case brought by the Wikimedia Foundation, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported. Six out of ten judges agree that the blockade goes against freedom of expression.

According to the ruling, access to Wikipedia should be restored immediately, but that does not appear to have happened yet. The Wikimedia Foundation says it will release a statement as soon as this is the case.

Turkey implemented the blockade of Wikipedia in late April 2017. According to the Turkish government, there are articles in the encyclopedia that incorrectly link Turkey to terrorist groups. Wikipedia refuses to remove the articles in question.

The Turkish government is blocking more popular websites. According to The Guardian, the country currently blocks 127,000 sites and another 95,000 specific pages. Turkey has also imposed various temporary blockades on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.