By Emre Peker
ISTANBUL--A Turkish court banned access to Twitter Inc. and
Google Inc.'s YouTube for failing to remove content related to a
deadly hostage crisis last week, marking the second time in a year
that the social-media platforms have been blocked after getting
mired in Turkey's political turmoil.
The blackout comes after an Istanbul court ordered the two U.S.
companies, as well as Facebook Inc. and dozens of other local and
foreign websites, to wipeout images, voice and videos recordings
linked to the hostage crisis, threatening a blanket ban for
noncompliance.
The Ankara-based Internet Service Providers' Association, which
represents all operators in Turkey, distributed the court order to
its members Monday shortly after noon local time, said a company
representative, who declined to be identified because the person
wasn't authorized to speak about legal matters.
Turkish Internet users were reporting blackouts, skirting the
ban by using virtual-private networks, or VPNs, that obscure the
country of access to use the social-media platforms. A blanket ban
on Facebook has been lifted, Turkey's top regulator told Hurriyet
newspaper.
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube owner Google didn't immediately
respond to requests for comment.
Yeliz Candemir and Sam Schechner contributed to this
article.
Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@wsj.com
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