Turkey: Twitter ban reversed by court injunction

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Twitter homepage. Picture: Getty

A TURKISH court has issued a temporary injunction ordering the country’s telecommunications authority to restore access to Twitter.

The authority had accused Twitter of disobeying court orders to remove content, and banned users from accessing the network in the country five days ago.

The ban came shortly after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to ”rip out the roots” of the social network that has been a conduit for links to recordings suggesting government corruption.

Many in Turkey found immediate ways to circumvent the ban.

Lawyers and the opposition party asked courts to overturn the Twitter ban, arguing it was illegal and unconstitutional.

It is unclear when, or if, the telecommunications authority will follow today’s court order.