Turkey blocked users from accessing Twitter on Wednesday for more than two hours, in an attempt to stop the sharing of photos and videos of the bombing that resulted in 32 fatalities earlier in the week.
Twitter was banned in the country after the company did not fully comply with the Turkish court ruling that social media and broadcast networks could not share the footage. The order was issued for 107 Twitter posts that featured the graphic images, as well as one YouTube video.
YouTube and Facebook removed the images immediately after the ban was put into effect. However, Twitter only took down 50 of the posts, failing to remove the remaining graphic content before the Turkish government's four-hour deadline.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the court ordered the removal of the images to prevent "illegal mass demonstrations."
The ban on Twitter has since been revoked after the social media plaftorm deleted the posts.
On Monday, 32 people died – mostly ethnic Kurds – and more than 100 people were injured in an explosion denoted by a suicide bomber in Suruç, located near the Syrian border. Hundreds of members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations were gathered near a cultural center in the town for a press briefing when the bomb went off.
Turkish media reports revealed the suspect as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagöz, a 20-year-old Turkish Kurd and student who was recruited by the Islamic State group.
Two Turkish police officers have been killed in the aftermath, with the Kurdistan Workers Party claiming responsibility in retaliation for the suicide bombing.
This is not the first time Turkey ordered a Twitter blackout. Back in March, the Turkish Prime Minister at the time, Tayyip Erdogan, banned Twitter after the social media platform failed to comply with court orders to remove links.
According to a Twitter transparency report, Turkey submitted 477 takedown requests last year.
Photo: Sugree Phatanapherom | Flickr
Via: The Verge
