Turkish court: YouTube blockade must be lifted – update

A Turkish court has ruled that access to YouTube in Turkey must be restored. At the same time, fifteen videos with alleged audio recordings of Erdogan on the site still have to be blocked.

The court in Ankara has ruled that the blockade of YouTube in Turkey must be lifted after the Union of Turkish Bars Associations appealed the decision of the Turkish telecom authority to ban citizens from accessing the video site, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. That decision was taken on March 27 by the authority without a judicial decision.

The blockade was put in place after videos appeared on YouTube allegedly featuring voices of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, some family members and top officials, during talks about bribery and abuse of power. Although the general blockade must be lifted, the 15 videos in question must remain blocked, the Ankara court ruled.

The new move is yet another in a series of blocking and unblocking of Twitter and YouTube in Turkey. The country’s foreign minister spoke of a national security matter with the YouTube blockade, which he said could not be considered a violation of freedom of expression.

Update, Tuesday 12.50: The decision of the Turkish telecom authority seems to have been taken on the basis of a court order. The appeal was therefore lodged against this decision.