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Turkish court orders end to Twitter ban but...

Renewed access to the site may not last since the Turkish government can appeal the ruling, says Hurriyet Daily News.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read

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Engin Onder/Twitter/Screenshot by CNET

Turkey may be forced to turn the Twitter tap back on following a court ruling ordering an end to the ban.

An administrative court in Turkey has issued a "stay of execution" on the decision to block access to Twitter in the country, Turkish news site Hurriyet Daily News reported Wednesday. The Turkish government took Twitter offline almost a week ago following actions by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has denounced the site in the wake of a political scandal that has played out in the Twittersphere.

Though the stay of execution sounds like a victory for all those opposed to the ban, the celebration may be short-lived. The government's telecommunication's arm has a right to appeal the ruling, which could see Twitter go offline again. The court is also expected to review individual applications concerning the ban on Wednesday, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Critics of Erdogan say the move to block Twitter is politically motivated.

The prime minister has been embroiled in a political corruption scandal that has embarrassed the government through news, videos, and images posted on the microblogging site. Recordings have surfaced on Twitter of Erdogan and his son in which the two allegedly discuss how to hide large sums of money. Erdogan has labeled those recordings fake.

Erdogan has insisted that Twitter remove certain objectionable content in order for the ban to be lifted. The prime minister said the site agreed to remove "one or two" items, Hurriyet Daily News said. But Erdogan claims there are around "700 pieces of content" that his government wants removed.

Turkish citizens initially were able to sneak past the ban by setting their computers and mobile devices to use Google's DNS servers. The government has since blocked those addresses. But there are ways around most blockades such as this. People in Turkey can still tweet using SMS on a mobile phone or virtual private networking software on a PC or mobile phone.