Turkey blocks access to Twitter and YouTube as tensions mount

Turkey has blocked access to Twitter and YouTube for the second time in little more than a year, as tensions mount ahead of the June 7 general elections. The move follows a court ruling on April 3 against 166 Internet addresses that published images of a prosecutor held hostage at gunpoint by a banned far left group. The Turkish authorities said the images promoted terrorism. It comes despite a ruling by the country’s top court in 2014 that blanket bans on social media were unconstitutional. In April 6’s follow up ruling blocking access, an Istanbul judge said the content endangered public order. According to an autopsy, the hostage, a prosecutor, was shot dead by his captors who were later killed by special forces. The sites affected by Friday’s order to remove content included specific news pages on mainstream Turkish media as well as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Yaman Akdeniz, a Turkish legal academic who successfully appealed against 2014’s ban on Twitter and YouTube argued that the ban was an attempt to intimidate media in the run up to June’s vote. “This is a wholly disproportionate exercise,” he said. “This is intended to put pressure on social media platforms ahead of the election.” Other commentators said that propaganda images by groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS, have been routinely published by media in Turkey.