This article was published on March 26, 2014

Turkish court overturns the country’s ban on Twitter, but it may only be temporary


Turkish court overturns the country’s ban on Twitter, but it may only be temporary

Turkey controversially banned Twitter last week, but it looks like the social network could soon be freely accessible in the country again.

The AFP reports that a court has ordered the government to unblock the social network, though Hurriyet Daily News clarifies that the decision is merely a stay of execution on the ban, which suggests that any unblocking could be temporary.

The ban was not initially successful, and only appeared to encourage Turks to flock to the microblogging site en masse using VPN software and Google DNS. However, reports suggest that activity has dropped by nearly 50 percent after Turkey blocked off access via Google DNS, becoming the first country to do so in the process.

There were believed to be 10 million Twitter users in Turkey before this episode kicked off, it will be interesting to see if that number has increased and just how many of the new converts will stick around as/when/if it is back to being legitimate.

Related: Turkish minister says Twitter was blocked for acting ‘above the law’ and ignoring court orders

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Image via Shutterstock

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with