InternetCensorship
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China just made VPNs illegal
Chinese authorities block access to big-name websites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and numerous others, and to thwart these restrictions, many residents on the mainland use virtual private networks. Starting this week, that could be a crime. Use of VPNs and special cable connections in China must now be approved by the government, essentially making these services illegal in the country.
Turkish court rules tweets are free speech
Turkey's country-wide Twitter ban has already been temporarily lifted on a national level, but the stay-of-execution wasn't completely universal. One of the three court orders that prompted the original ban forced Twitter to use its Country Withheld Content tool on an account that had reportedly accused Turkey's former prime minister of corruption, effectively blocking it from the view of Turkish users. The social media network complied with the order, but immediately petitioned the court to overturn it, arguing in favor of freedom of expression. Twitter's legal legwork seems to have paid off -- the company is now reporting that the take-down order has been rescinded , and the Country Withheld Content action on the account has been reversed.
Turkey bans Twitter but users can still tweet via SMS
Turkey has joined the ranks of Iran, Egypt and others who have blocked access to Twitter at one point or another. Now, anyone in Turkey who tries to go to the website is redirected to a statement from the country's telecommunications regulator instead. A Turkish journalist told The Daily Dot that the outage started just after Thursday midnight and gradually spread out, depending on users' internet providers. It looks like the government didn't block the microblogging site's SMS service, though, because Twitter's Policy account just reminded Avea and Vodafone users that they can text START to 2444, while Turkcell subscribers can text START to 2555. But, why was Twitter banned in Turkey in the first place? Well, that's because some users posted voice recordings and documents, which allegedly reveal corruption within the Turkish prime minister's inner circle -- and that sure didn't sit well with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
