Turkish court rejects appeal to reverse ban on Wikipedia

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A court in Ankara has rejected a call to lift a ban on the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia Wikipedia which was banned in Turkey on April 29 on charges of posing a threat to national security.

 

The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, appealed against this decision stating that freedom of expression has been violated as the entire platform had been restricted, not just the two disputed articles which were posted.

 

Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) stated that it had blocked all access to Wikipedia, citing a law allowing it to ban access to any website deemed obscene or a threat to national security.

 

The Ankara 1st Criminal Court of Peace ordered the ban after Wikipedia’s administration refused to remove two pages stating that Ankara channeled support to jihadists in Syria, Turkey’s  Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The court rejected the appeal on May 5, however, citing a law that enables a broader access ban when a specific violation cannot be prevented. The court stated on its ruling, “As can be understood from the mentioned legal texts, freedom of expression is not one of absolute rights. It may be restricted when conditions are suitable and in situations where moderateness is required,”

 

It also noted that Turkey was still under a state of emergency declared after the failed July 2016 military coup attempt, and its obligations based on the European Convention on Human Rights were temporarily suspended, accordign to the Turkish newspaper. 

 

The Wikimedia Foundation has called upon the government in Turkey to restore full access to the site.