Turkey blocks use of Twitter

Turkey blocks use of Twitter | Twitter Banned in Turkey 

Turkey restricted access to Twitter hours after its prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, threatened to "root out" the social media network where wiretapped recordings have been leaked, damaging the government's reputation ahead of local elections.

Some users trying to use Twitter were taken to a statement apparently from Turkey's telecommunications regulator (TIB).

The statement cited four court orders as the basis for blocking the site, where some users in recent weeks have posted voice recordings and documents purportedly showing evidence of corruption among Erdoğan's inner circle. It said that action had been taken against Twitter as a "protection measure".

But Turkish telecoms watchdog BTK said on Friday that the ban came after complaints were made by citizens that the social media platform was breaching privacy.

The watchdog had previously asked Twitter to remove some content but Twitter had failed to do so, the BTK said in a statement on its website. 

Turkey recently tightened government control of the Internet and the judiciary, generating criticism from rights groups.

The country, which has more than 10 million Twitter users, has seen access to thousands of sites blocked in recent years.

YouTube was banned for two years up to 2010 because of material deemed insulting to the country's revered founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The Internet Publishers Association, a body representing online and media companies, said the move to block Twitter was an attempt to "destroy freedom of expression".

"The prime minister having the power to shut down Twitter will be the confirmation of dictatorship," it said in a statement published by local media.