YouTube ban lifted in Turkey after online protest
Written on August 26, 2008 – 12:05 pm
Robin Wauters, Next web enthusiast & Plugg organizer
A Turkish court has lifted a ban on YouTube after hundreds of sites voluntarily blocked themselves in protest at growing internet censorship.
Over 412 web and blog sites, including the Turkish-English dictionary site zargan.com, participated last week in an online protest after access to YouTube had been blocked in the latest of a series of bans triggered by the posting of videos deemed insulting to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Turkey first banned YouTube in March last year after Greek users posted videos alleging that Atatürk was homosexual. Insults to Atatürk are considered an offence similar to posting child pornography and encouraging suicide in Turkey, and fall under Article 5651 of the country’s penal code.
The protesters shut themselves off temporarily after campaigners revealed that 853 websites in Turkey had been blocked as a result of court orders. Now that a Turkish court has lifted this particular ban, it remains to be seen if new bans will follow in the future.
Meanwhile, Turkey is still bidding for EU membership …
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