Turkish court rules YouTube ban violates rights

ANKARA: Turkey’s top court ruled on Thursday that a blanket ban on YouTube violated individual rights and freedom, clearing the way for the popular video-sharing site to come back. YouTube was banned in Turkey on March 27 after the site was used to spread audio recordings where senior government, military and intelligence officials are allegedly heard weighing possible military action inside Syria. The decision was in response to individual complaints to the constitutional court on the grounds of a breach of rights, an official from the prime minister’s office said. Turkey’s transportation ministry, which is also in charge of communication services, was due to be informed of the verdict, added the official. The court’s decision is “binding” and access to YouTube could be granted in the coming hours, the private NTV television channel reported. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014