Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Court Orders Turkish Twitter Ban Temporarily Lifted, Twitter Prepares Challenge

Posted by Unknown on from the conveniently-too-many-days-to-comply dept.

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Less than a week after the Turkish government banned Twitter over failing to remove allegations of government corruption from the social network, a Turkish court on Wednesday suspended the ban, calling it 'illegal.'" Unfortunately, according to the BBC Twitter may remain blocked until after the elections: "The administrative court in Ankara issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday ordering the TIB to restore access to Twitter until it could deliver its full verdict on the ban. Turkish media reports suggested the ban would be suspended soon afterwards but a source in Mr Erdogan's office told Reuters news agency the TIB had 30 days to implement or appeal against the court ruling." In the meantime, Twitter is attempting to fight the ban directly.

29 comments

  1. If Twitter wants to do something useful by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They should help provide information and methods of circumvention to help ensure that no state can block them. Going through the courts is just workfare for the lawyers.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:If Twitter wants to do something useful by rvw · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They should help provide information and methods of circumvention to help ensure that no state can block them. Going through the courts is just workfare for the lawyers.

      Twitter feeds can be viewed via other websites. Take Wordpress (the software, not the site), which has numerous twitter plugins. You cannot block all individual sites that have these feeds. Turkey cannot prevent those sites from using twitter as long as those sites are hosted outside Turkey. I thought this was common practise in Iran and Libya and other countries that tried to block twitter since the revolutions in the islamic world.

  2. islamists by schlachter · · Score: 1, Troll

    the reason for the ban is islamists. the run the country.
    legality has nothing to do with fairness. look at sharia law.

    --
    My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
    1. Re:islamists by Mashiki · · Score: 2

      Funny how you're modded troll for pointing out the truth. I guess someone on /. doesn't like having their sensibilities hurt.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    2. Re:islamists by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, said poking is done from the back of the eye, using the other eye as an entry point.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    3. Re:islamists by schlachter · · Score: 1

      didn't know there were so many muslims on slashdot...maybe it's read in London or Sweden more than I realized?
      in any case, everyone knows this is the truth, it's not racist or bigoted to speak the truth.

      --
      My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
  3. Ergodan picked a fight that will topple him. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He tried to censor the internet. This will only fuel the fire burning under him.

  4. "Until after the election" by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In other words, the old fart wants to silence the "rumors" about his embezzlement and money laundering, hoping that he finds enough idiots to be reelected.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:"Until after the election" by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      As I understand it, he's moved towards the Islamic fundamentalists over the years. So I don't think it's a matter of finding them, I think he already has them and realizes they won't care about the censorship. If anything, they'll like it.

    2. Re:"Until after the election" by Znork · · Score: 2

      And that's pretty much why Turkey should be kept outside the EU. Europe does not need an influx of 50 million voters of whom a significant portion can even consider voting for someone like Erdogan.

      The accession talks should end. Turkey can fall into the dark ages on its own.

    3. Re:"Until after the election" by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      The EU has nothing to do with Europe or whether it would be politically interesting to do something. It's a purely economic special interest group that was sadly given political power.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:"Until after the election" by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but tearing down the borders within Europe is definitely a good thing. If only NAFTA was that straightforward, but it's even more oriented for the benefit of big business only, with no benefit to the citizens of that continent at all.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    5. Re:"Until after the election" by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Tearing down the borders hardly benefits the average citizen. How much would change for you (assuming you're from the US) if you'd have to take a passport with you if you traveled across state borders? How often do you?

      You'd have to take into account that it is FAR less common in Europe to move away from your home country than it is for someone in the US to move away from his home state (e.g. for a new job), so it's very likely that all your relatives are also living in the same state you're in. How often would you really benefit from being able to travel anywhere?

      Not that it was any different before the EU. You hardly spent much time at any border (other than the former East Bloc, but that was something different), most of the time you were waved through anyway.

      Again it's mostly an advantage for companies who can now far more easily haul in cheap labour from the "new" member states in the East, and nothing your home country could do against it but pay for your unemployment. Think of it as auto-H1Bs.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Check this out from the last link: by schneidafunk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "The last order instructed us to take down an account accusing a former minister of corruption. This order causes us concern. Political speech is among the most important speech, especially when it concerns possible government corruption. That’s why today we have also petitioned the Turkish court on behalf of our users to reverse this order.

    While we contest the order, we are using our Country Withheld Content tool on the account in question, the first time we’ve used it in Turkey, as well as on several Tweets based on the public prosecutor’s request regarding the safety of an individual. The tool allows content to be withheld in a specific jurisdiction while remaining visible to the rest of the world."

    Although I did not find the specific tweet on http://chillingeffects.org/int...

    --
    Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
    1. Re:Check this out from the last link: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should libel be considered "protected political speech". So if I use libel as a weapon for political gain, it's a-ok?

    2. Re:Check this out from the last link: by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Why should libel be considered "protected political speech".

      Because the charge of libel/slander is pure bullshit, whether it's political or not.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    3. Re:Check this out from the last link: by stdarg · · Score: 1

      What if it's not pure bullshit? More to the point, the danger with limiting political speech based on libel and slander is that the government decides what libel and slander is. If Country X has a law that what politicians do in private is private, and that revealing those private actions is a form of libel/slander, then do you support the ban?

      How far off am I? According to CNN Erdogan said the leaked material he's apparently trying to suppress was "immorally edited." He also said "Freedom is not invading someone's privacy."

      What I don't get is why anyone outside of Turkey gives a crap if they block twitter. I get that some people are sad to see this so-called Islamic democracy turning into a failed state, but that's been going on for years. Twitter was the final straw?? Okay..

    4. Re:Check this out from the last link: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fustakrakich is an overly charged piece of turd

  6. Turkish Twist ban... by RandomUsername99 · · Score: 2

    The Turkish Twist ban, however, remains firmly in effect as Erdogan's shuddering remembrance of the projectile vomit he was forced to clean up at the fair, during his summer job in high school, brushes aside the media's criticism of his hard-lined approach.

  7. Twitter ban in Egypt caused revolution by RavenManiac · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Tayyip Erdoan isn't stupid. In fact he's one of the better recent Turkish leaders, but he's a conservative [not crazy] Muslim.

    He's not following events in Egypt. When Hosni Mubarak saw all the excitement about Twitter messaging, he banned Twitter to stop the tweets. So the tweeters did the best thing to get the word out. They left their homes and businesses to rally in the streets--real, not virtual interaction--since virtual contact was shut down.

    That was the beginning of the "Arab Spring" and the downfall of Mubarak. Erdoan needs to be more confident about the future and stop listening to the religious conservative extremists, so he won't make all the same mistakes as Mubareak. Turkey is more forward-thinking than that, or at least it was, until Erdoan got spooked [stupid]. http://www.todayszaman.com/new...

    1. Re:Twitter ban in Egypt caused revolution by stdarg · · Score: 1

      Hmm the big difference is that Mubarak suppressed Islamist groups and Erdogan works with them. Who do you think was the muscle behind the protests in Egypt? Who is going to topple Erdogan? How are they going to do against the hardcore Muslims who support Turkey's fall into Islamism? I'm reminded of the hilarious naivete of Iranian intellectuals and communists who thought that allying with radical Muslims was a great idea to get rid of the shah. "Hey we'll let the Muslims do the fighting, and then they'll let us rule over them and impose a secular system that they hate to the core! What a simple and elegant solution! I wonder why other Muslim countries didn't think of that??"

      Tangential point... why do you think the Arab spring began in Egypt instead of Tunisia? Tunisia has been oddly forgotten in the last few years, not just by you but the mainstream press as well. God only knows how many times NPR has linked Tahrir Square to the start of the Arab spring.

  8. Erdogan SIKTIR GIT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .. nuff said.

  9. I don't know about you guys... by Andrio · · Score: 2

    But if an election were coming up, I would vote for the guy that _didn't_ block Twitter.

    --
    The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
    1. Re:I don't know about you guys... by stdarg · · Score: 1

      What if you're a devout Muslim who believes Twitter should be blocked since it's a tool of Western agents to defame and slander your leader, a true lion of Islam, who wants to restore the caliphate?

      Yeah, there are more people like that in Turkey than people like you...

    2. Re:I don't know about you guys... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never been to Turkey huh?

    3. Re:I don't know about you guys... by stdarg · · Score: 1

      Nope. But I know how to read, do you?

      http://www.todayszaman.com/new...

      Besides Assad's allegations, some of Erdoan's followers have also called him a caliph. In 2013, Atlgan Bayar, an advisor to the pro-government news station A Haber, wrote that he recognized Erdoan as the caliph of the Muslim world and expressed his allegiance to him. In one of her recent tweets, Beyhan Demirci, a writer and follower of Erdoan, also wrote that Erdoan is the caliph and the shadow of God on Earth. Some of his followers have gone even further and said things like, “Since Erdoan is the caliph, he has the right to use money earned through corruption for his political goals.”

  10. Getting around ban by ruir · · Score: 1

    Plug-in for facebook? Lets see those "devout Muslims" with a revolution at hands because people are not stupidified with twitter and facebook and go to the streets...