Youtube, Twitter, Facebook blocked in Turkey

Social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have been blocked in Turkey, following a Turkish court ruling over the sharing of hostage photos during an armed siege in the country last week. 

According to BBC, two gunmen, reportedly from a far-left group, took a prosecutor hostage at Istanbul central courthouse in the siege.

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey’s presidential spokesman, said a prosecutor sought the ban on social media after the release of the photos.

“This has to do with the publishing of the prosecutor’s picture. What happened in the aftermath (of the prosecutor’s killing) is as grim as the incident itself,” he said.

“The demand from the prosecutor’s office is that this image not be used anywhere in electronic platforms.”

Before the court imposed the blockade on these social media windows, Turkish authorities had moved to stop newspapers from printing images taken during the siege last week.

The newspapers were accused by the government of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” for the DHKP-C group that was reportedly behind the attack on the courthouse.

A total of 166 websites that shared the images were blocked by the court order.

Mehmet Kiraz, the prosecutor at the centre of the siege, was apparently taken hostage because he headed an investigation into the death of a boy during anti-government protests that took place in 2013.

The same pictures showing attackers holding a gun to Kiraz’s head were also being widely shared on social media, leading authorities to act, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported.

YouTube published the text of the court ruling on its website, saying an administration measure had been enacted by Turkey’s telecoms authority.

The restriction on Facebook has however believed to have been removed after the leading social media platform removed the controversial images.

The DHKP-C is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and US.