Turkey top court rules Wikipedia ban breaches free speech
Turkey’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that
the government’s ban on access to online encyclopedia Wikipedia violated
freedom of expression, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
The ban imposed by Turkey’s Information and
Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) has remained in place since April
2017.
Turkish officials said at the time the measure was
needed as Wikipedia had failed to remove content deemed false from its pages
that linked Turkey with terror groups.
But the move caused an outcry among freedom of
information activists who accuse Turkey of slapping bans on websites and social
media with alarming regularity.
A local court is due to decide whether the ban will
be lifted, according to Turkish media reports.
In May, the Wikipedia Foundation said it would take
the ban to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
Rights groups have regularly criticized the erosion
of free speech in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially since
a failed coup attempt in 2016 triggered a massive crackdown on government
critics in the press and beyond.
