The Turkish Government blocked Twitter a few days ago after it was used to expose alleged government corruption. Turkish residents began using Google’s public DNS service to circumvent the block.
Today, a publication based in Turkey is reporting that the Turkish government has also blocked Google’s DNS service, making it even harder to circumvent the ban. Those in Turkey are still able to use VPN services to access Twitter, but it’s clear the government is not backing down yet.
News of DNS workarounds had spread quickly within the country; tweets sent from inside Turkey were up over 138% compared to before the censoring of the service was implemented.
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CNET also reports today that YouTube is at risk of being censored in Turkey as well. The video service has started to receive a large amount of requests from authorities in Turkey requesting that videos be taken down, but the company refuses to remove the videos as it supports a “free and open Internet.”
Twitter’s lawyers met with the Turkish government yesterday, but it’s not clear if the meeting will result in changes to the ongoing censorship of the service.
Update: Turkey is now blocking Twitter’s IP addresses at the ISP level in the country so that users aren’t able to use any DNS services to circumvent the block.
Renesys confirms Twitter IP addresses are now blocked by several Turkish providers #TwitterisblockedinTurkey pic.twitter.com/pqVKOVcFJx
— Renesys Corporation (@renesys) March 22, 2014
➤ Turkey widens Internet censorship
Image via DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images
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