Less than a week after the Turkish government blocked its citizens from accessing Twitter, it has now also blocked access to YouTube. Ironically, this new ban comes the day after a Turkish court ordered its government to lift its ban on Twitter.
The nationwide ban on Twitter began on March 20, when tweets containing wiretap audio linking the country’s prime minister to a corruption scandal spread virally resulting in an immediate blocking of the service. Of course, savvy Twitter users began finding ways to work around the ban, using Google DNS and even SMS. Now, the Turkish government has resorted to banning YouTube as well.
A statement by Google reads:
“We’re seeing reports that some users are not able to access YouTube in Turkey. There is no technical issue on our side and we’re looking into the situation.”
While the Turkish court order still stands, the Turkish government has 30 days to comply with the ruling. It remains to be seen if there will be a similar injunction to restore access to YouTube, amid reports that Turkey may implement a greater crackdown on social media to curb what it claims to be “immorally edited material” in a smear campaign against the current government ahead of a nationwide municipal election this Sunday.
