Turkish Court Overturns Twitter Ban

Updated 11:15 a.m. ET

A Turkish court declared a temporary injunction Wednesday demanding the government-controlled telecoms authority lift the ban on Twitter imposed by the Turkish government five days ago, according to a news agency there.

Lawyers and opposition politicians in Turkey have asked the court to overturn the moratorium on the social network, claiming it was unconstitutional and not legal, reports AP.

Twitter also filed petitions for lawsuits that would challenge the ban on its website in Turkey, the company said in blog post Wednesday. “The millions of people in Turkey who turn to Twitter to make their voices heard are being kept from doing just that,” Twitter said.

Turkey’s telecoms authority had accused Twitter of defying court orders that certain content be removed. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “rip out the roots” of Twitter last week after it hosted content posted by users showing evidence of possible government corruption. However many online users in Turkey swiftly found ways around the ban.

[AP]

With additional reporting by Sam Frizell