Turkey’s highest court ruled today that the recent nationwide Twitter block is a violation of the free-speech protections written into the country’s constitution. The ruling comes just a week after a lower court ordered the government to lift the virtual blockade, and shuts down any chance of appealing the earlier ruling. That’s good news for Turkish activists and a powerful vote of legitimacy for Twitter itself, which had openly lobbied for lifting the block.
Blocking Twitter violates free speech, says Turkish constitutional court
It’s still unclear whether Prime Minister Erdogan will lift the ban to comply with the ruling, but they will have a 30-day window to do so, dating from the lower-court ruling on March 26th. In the meantime, citizens trying to access the service through the Turkish web have resorted to a series of workarounds, some of which have already come under attack from government censors. The Constitutional Court sent its ruling onto the nation’s telecom authority and transport ministry, which have yet to publicly respond.
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