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Deutsch: Ist YouTube in der Türkei wieder online?
After almost three years of blocking, Turkey has finally lifted its ban on YouTube. Google's site was blocked in 2007 for videos considered insulting to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country's founder.
In 2007, Turkey's parliament adopted a law allowing a court to block any website in case there was "sufficient suspicion" that a crime had occurred. The Appeal Court of Ankara has recently decided to lift the ban on Google's site but the decision is not considered entirely a victory as it came along with the removal of the videos in question.
Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said there was no longer any reason to ban the website because the offending videos had been removed. "I hope that they have also learned from this experience and the same thing will not happen again. YouTube will hopefully carry out its operations in Turkey within the limits of law in the future," he added thus implying that the site could always be in danger of suspension in the future in case similar content is posted on it.
YouTube wanted to emphasize the fact that the videos had been removed by a third party: "We want to be clear that a third party, not YouTube, have apparently removed some of the videos that have caused the blocking of YouTube in Turkey using our automated copyright complaint process. We are investigating whether this action is valid in accordance with our copyright policy."
But the victory may be short-lived, as the Dr. Yaman Akdeniz has pointed out that the videos are back online:
"Despite the earlier news that Turkey has lifted its ban on YouTube after almost 2.5 years, YouTube reinstated the four videos that were removed by a licensing agency in Germany. YouTube, in a statement circulated in Turkish late Monday night stated that the four videos did not violate its copyright violation policy and therefore they were put back into the system (...)
It remains to be seen how the Turkish authorities will react to this action by YouTube but I strongly suspect that they will issue a new injunction to block access to YouTube."
OSCE (the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) which, in June 2010, expressed the opinion that Internet censorship in Turkey was one of the heaviest in the world by the the law allowing the access blocking to more than 5 000 sites, welcomed the present decision but urged Turkey to continue in this direction "by reforming its Internet law and lift the remaining website bans."
Thousands of other websites, especially those related to sensitive topics such as Ataturk, the army and minorities, remain blocked.
Turkey lifts two-year ban on YouTube (30.10.2010)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11659816
YouTube accessible soon in Turkey after three years of blocking (only in
French, 30.10.2010)
http://www.numerama.com/magazine/17214-youtube-bientot-accessible-en-t...
YouTube Ban is Imminent (again) in Turkey (1.11.2010)
http://cyberlaw.org.uk/2010/11/01/youtube-ban-is-imminent-again-in-tur...
Turkey: Authorities urged to ensure YouTube stays unblocked (3.11.2010)
http://en.rsf.org/turkey-authorities-urged-to-ensure-03-11-2010,38742....
EDRI-gram: Turkey extends the censorship of YouTube (16.06.2010)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number8.12/turkey-extends-blocking-youtub...