A Turkish court has lifted a blanket ban on video-sharing website YouTube, declaring the ban to be a breach of human rights and reducing the restrictions to 15 controversial videos.
The move echoes a similar move last week, when the Constitutional Court lifted a ban on social media site Twitter declared by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Twitter was initially banned after tweets alleging corruption by the Erdogan regime surfaced online.
Access to YouTube was blocked after audio recordings were leaked, allegedly revealing senior officials discussing a possible attack on Syria ahead of an election.
The officials included in the controversial recordings are alleged to be Turkey’s head of intelligence and the country’s foreign minister.
The Constitutional Court decided that an outright ban on YouTube was too broad and blocked access to just 15 videos.
The decision is understood to have infuriated Erdogan, who while he will comply with the ruling, does not promise to respect it.
Turkish flag image via Shutterstock
