Nearly a month ago, after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that he “will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook, he seems to facing major roadblocks in his ambition. Turkish court in the country has ruled out a blanket ban of YouTube in the country stating that it violates human rights in Turkey. In place of the ban, the court ruled to block 15 specific videos.
YouTube was banned last month prior to the elections in the country. The move was confirmed by the Turkish telecoms authority TIB that the step was taken as an “administrative measure” against the Google-owned platform – YouTube.
The move to block YouTube happened after Google had declined requests from the Turkish government to remove a video that allegedly points to government corruption. It reportedly includes a recording of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, in which he tells his son to hide cash from investigators. The video has now been watched millions of times.
The latest ruling by the Turkish court comes close on the heels of the court having ordered unblocking of Twitter stating that the ban breached freedom of expression. Twitter was also banned prior to elections and later Government tightened the circle by blocking access to the Google public DNS service.
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the ruling of the Constitutional Court that lifted his government’s March 20 ban on Twitter.
“We are of course bound by the Constitutional Court verdict, but I don’t have to respect it. I don’t respect this ruling.” said Erdogan, a day after Twitter went live again in Turkey.
With Erdogan now securing his eighth big win in 14 years, will he allow YouTube or social media to be active in the country, when he considers social media a big menace to the society.