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Turkey to censor tweets with 'malicious' content
Twitter might not be banned in Turkey anymore, but the country's government isn't quite done putting it through the censorship wringer yet. In fact, Turkish Communications Minister Lütfi Elvan just released a written statement that says: "We [Twitter and Turkey] have reached a consensus to 'neutralize' malicious content that is the object of court decisions by pixelating." He didn't expound on what he means by "pixelating," but it's typically associated with the mosaic-like classic approach to censorship. If Turkish authorities can indeed blur out tweets, then this saga might have taken an even crazier turn. Since that's bordering on the absurd, though, it's possible that "pixelating" might have just been the term Lütfi used for Twitter's Country Withheld Tool, which the website uses to hide tweets and accounts from a whole nation.
Turkey's prime minister accuses Twitter of tax evasion
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn't happy that free speech rights thwarted his desires to block Twitter and silence corruption allegations, so he's switching to plan B: accuse Twitter of shady dealings. He's now promising to "go after" the social network for tax evasion, and has implied that other internet-based peers like Facebook and YouTube might be breaking local laws. We've reached out to Twitter for its response, but we wouldn't expect the company to take Erdogan's charge lightly.
Facebook report shows where and how often it blocked illegal content
Facebook's plan isn't a secret: Mark Zuckerberg wants to connect the world, be it through the website proper or a buzzy, expensive mobile messaging app. Breaking down communication barriers also means some of the company's millions of users bump against local laws because of what they post, and Facebook's second government transparency report offers a look at just how often that happens. These days, you can't think of online censorship without thinking of Turkey. The Erdogan government just recently undid a country-wide ban on Twitter, but still hasn't reinstated access to YouTube... despite what the courts have said. Between July and December 2013, Facebook restricted access to 2,014 bits of content because they ran afoul of laws that prohibit "defamation or criticism of Ataturk or the Turkish state." Think that's bad? India was the leader in content restrictions with 4,765, again because users shared things that criticized "a religion or the state." India's population is vastly higher than Turkey's though, so it's no surprise they've got more restrictions under their belts. But! If we look at the ratio of content restrictions to monthly active users in those countries (roughly 33 million in Turkey and 100 million in India), then Turkey seems like the most censorship-friendly country on the list. That's probably not a surprise to the people who live there.
Turkish ISPs make getting to YouTube a little easier, but haven't unblocked it yet
Even after the unbanning of Twitter and a court ruling in Google's favor, YouTube is still blocked in Turkey. Accessing the video streaming site did get a little easier today however, as the Wall Street Journal has confirmed residents can once again use DNS servers from Google, Level3 and OpenDNS that will route them around the block. More easily implemented than using a VPN, it finally reopens access via those servers after they were blocked ten days ago. There's no public statement available from the ISPs or the Turkish government, but hopefully unrestricted access to the best YouTube has to offer is coming soon.
Google takes legal action against Turkey's YouTube ban
Remember how a Turkish court ordered an end to the country's YouTube ban? Well, that decision has already been reversed -- and Google has launched an all-out legal assault in response. The search firm has filed a complaint with Turkey's Constitutional Court protesting the block, to start with; it's also appealing the reinstatement of the ban, and it's suing to negate the decision altogether. The company doesn't have more details to share at this stage, but a spokesperson both acknowledged the court battles to us and said it was "obviously very disappointing" that the censorship is still in effect. It's too early to know whether the anti-ban campaign will prove successful, but Twitter's recent victory suggests that Google has a fighting chance.
Turkish court half-heartedly orders end to YouTube ban
Turkey's Twitter ban may have come to an end, but the country's block on YouTube remains steadfast. In the latest development to this censorship saga, Reuters reports that a court in the Turkish capital has declared the YouTube situation a human rights violation, and instructed that the block be removed. Well, almost, as the court did state 15 specific videos could stay restricted, but that a blanket ban was unnecessary. The ruling tipped its hat to a similar decision from Turkey's Constitutional Court, which previously declared the Twitter lockdown a violation of free speech. Regardless of this official order, it's still up to the powers that be to do the unbanning, but we doubt they'll be up for bearing the pressure to do so much longer. If certain politically sensitive videos stay unavailable when that happens, though, then the Turkish Prime Minister and Co. have kind of won anyway, we'd say.
Daily Roundup: interview with Felix Baumgartner, Apple announces WWDC 2014 and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Turkey finally lifts Twitter ban, but YouTube is still blocked
It's official: Turkey's Twitter ban has officially come to an end. The country's high court ruled that the ban was unconstitutional just yesterday, and access to the service was finally restored this morning after two weeks of social silence. In case you hadn't been following this odyssey, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan promised to "root out" the service after recordings of reportedly corrupt government officials made the rounds ahead of nationwide elections. Savvy users managed to bypass the block with tools like Tor, but Erdogan seems to have gotten what he wanted anyway: his party trounced the competition in municipal polls held over the weekend. Censorship is as powerful a tool as ever, sad to say. Twitter wasn't the only social service that came under fire, as YouTube was blocked once illicit recordings of a high-level meeting about sending troops into Syria began to circulate. At this point there's no word on when access will be reinstated, though this isn't the first time YouTube has fallen into the country's crosshairs: it was blocked between 2007 and 2010 because it hosted videos critical of Turkey's founder, Ataturk.
Turkey's Constitutional Court: Twitter ban violates freedom of speech
Since Turkey blocked access to Twitter in late March -- in response to posts about the prime minister's alleged corruption -- there's been plenty of legal back-and-forth, with the ban even being lifted temporarily as judges weighed complaints against the government. Today's news might mean Twitter is back for good: The Constitutional Court ruled that blocking the social-media platform was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the right to free speech. Most importantly, the ruling requires Turkey to immediately restore access to Twitter. According to the Hurriyet Daily News, this ruling may be used as a precedent for similar cases in the future, possibly preventing authorities from imposing widespread bans like this again. It's unclear whether this ruling will also affect the country's ban on YouTube, which is currently in effect. In response to the ruling, Twitter's @Policy account tweeted: "We welcome this Constitutional Court ruling, and hope to have Twitter access restored in Turkey soon."
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.
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Daily Roundup: Facebook's visual history, Office for iPad and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Turkish government bans YouTube following attempt to remove corruption videos
If you're currently in Turkey, get ready to fire up that VPN. The Turkish government has just added YouTube to its list of banned websites, which as of last week also included Twitter (that site is reportedly back online). According to Webrazzi, the ban is already active with some ISPs, while other networks are in the process of blocking access as well. A Wall Street Journal report last week stated that Google declined a government request to remove YouTube videos that allegedly feature an audio recording of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan telling his son to hide money from investigators. It's easy to speculate that today's ban is a final attempt to curb the spread of the aforementioned corruption videos, but given that millions of viewers have already tuned in, this latest effort likely won't be effective. We can only hope Turkey lifts the ban soon.
Daily Roundup: the future of Oculus Rift, Turkey drops Twitter ban and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Turkey's Twitter ban has been overturned (updated)
The Turkish government's ban on Twitter was probably always a losing battle, given the various workarounds available to the country's tech-savvy citizens. But now the six-day-old prohibition is also losing in the courts, according to a report from the Hürriyet Daily News. The newspaper says a Turkish court has issued a "stay of execution" on the government's order, which means the ban should be lifted until judges have the chance to weigh up the many complaints that have been lodged against it. This sounds like a positive step for opposition parties and civil rights activists, but it could equally prove to be just a temporary victory in the face of Prime Minister's Erdogan's continued threats against the "scourge" of social media. Update: Shortly after the court ruling, Twitter has come forward to confirm that it was one of the parties that filed a complaint. In a post on the company's official blog, Twitter General Counsel Vijaya Gadde said that earlier today, the company filed petitions for lawsuits in an attempt permanently overturn the country-wide access ban. While it awaits a response, Twitter said it has also begun using its "Country Withheld Content" tool for the first time in the country, hiding tweets belonging to a user who the public prosecutor believes could be in danger. [Image credit: Myrat/Wikipedia]
Turkish PM plugs Twitter DNS loophole, Facebook and YouTube could be blocked next
When Twitter went dark for users in Turkey earlier this week, it didn't take long for everyone to realize something was up. Prime Minister Erdoğan had reportedly threatened to pull the plug on the popular social network previously, before coming good on his word just hours later. The attempt to silence the platform, however, wasn't exactly well executed. People in the country were still able to send messages via SMS, and access was still available via the web by relatively simple means: using a VPN or by changing your PC's DNS settings. Today, it's reported that Erdoğan's attacks on the platform continue, with new reports suggesting that access to the DNS loophole being blocked.
Daily Roundup: Turkey bans Twitter, Peter Molyneux talks VR and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
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.
News roundup for December 24, 2013
Good afternoon! It's the day before Christmas, which means a lot of people are focused on time off and their families. But, there's still a bit of news out there! Here's what's going on in the Apple world today. Former Apple executive Ken Segall explains why critics need to back off the company's Christmas ad featuring a seemingly tuned-out teenager secretly filming a video of his family – even though it does commit the crime of filming in portrait mode, but it magically gets shown in landscape mode. It's a clever concept. The spot relies on our own stereotypes to lead us to an incorrect assumption, setting the stage for the second half of the spot to pull our heartstrings so effectively. Despite its cleverness, the spot feels very real. Hacker Geohot has taken a look at the untethered iOS 7 jailbreak and determines that he "found nothing sketchy in my reversing, your phones most likely aren't being backdoored by Chinese." MacRumors had reported that the evad3rs team was paid $1 million to preload the "Taig" app store on the jailbreak. Electronista reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook and a team of executives will visit Turkey in February to discuss a possible $4 billion education deal. The country is looking to purchase roughly 12.5 million to 13 million tablets in two waves over a four-year period, which would replace the paper textbooks circulating in schools. Cook also plans to visit the country's first Apple Store in Istanbul. MacRumors reports that Mac Pro users have received an early Christmas gift, as some pre-ordered machines began arriving today. Merry Christmas! Apple has received a couple of new patents: one for hover-touch sensing and another for an embedded heart rate monitor. The first sensor detects if your finger is anywhere near a touchscreen device, a feature that Samsung's Galaxy S4 apparently already has.
Apple debuts online store in Turkey
Our readers in Turkey will be happy to hear that Apple has debuted its first online store in the country. The move comes as Apple increasingly looks to new global territories to increase its market share. Given that Turkey has more than 70 million citizens, it's a bit surprising the country hasn't had an official Apple online store until now, but better late than never. The Turkish store offers most of the products Apple online stores in other countries do, including Macs, iPhones, iPods and iPads. However, Turkey will not get the iPad Air just yet, as it's not one of the countries with it launching today. There's also more love for Turkey coming in 2014, with Istanbul set to get its first Apple retail store.
Spotify bops to Taiwan, Turkey, Greece and Argentina today
The fine people of Canada may still not have access to Spotify, but Greece, Turkey, Taiwan and Argentina are all getting the ad-supported music-on-demand service starting today. Yes, that's at least one new country for three separate continents -- Spotify's really spreading the love around with today's expansion, apparently. According to the company, that puts Spotify in 32 total "markets" worldwide, comprising 24 million "active users" -- not too shabby for seven years of existence! The company's last big expansion was in April, when it arrived in Mexico, Malaysia and several other territories. Here's hoping it finally arrives in Canada some time this year as well -- our Canadian staffers are getting awfully antsy.
