The Turkish Telecommunications Authority (BTK) has lifted an almost year-long access ban on popular social media platform Ekşi Sözlük following a recent decision by the country’s Constitutional Court that found a rights violation in the ban, Turkish Minute reported.
The platform announced its return on X on Monday, offering its thanks to everyone who supported it during its legal battle. Users can now access the platform’s main webpage, eksisozluk.com.
Last week the Constitutional Court found a violation of freedom of expression, which is guaranteed in Article 26 of the Turkish Constitution, in the access ban on Ekşi Sözlük imposed in the aftermath of major earthquakes last year.
Ekşi Sözlük, where users can anonymously post and discuss messages on any subject, had been facing online censorship since February, when Turkey was hit by two powerful earthquakes that claimed more than 50,000 lives.
The BTK imposed an access ban on the platform’s main website, eksisozluk.com, in February for the “protection of national security and public order” due to messages on the platform criticizing Turkey’s lack of earthquake preparedness and what many said was the government’s poor response to it.
When the platform switched to alternative websites to circumvent the ban, they also faced access bans.
Ekşi Sözlük challenged the ban at the country’s top court, as a result of which the ban has been lifted.
Turkey, where internet freedom has steadily declined over the past decade, ranks among the “not free” countries concerning online freedoms, according to a report released by the US-based Freedom House in October.
