Hashtag Saudi Arabia: Chasing critics on Twitter

Yahoo – AFP, November 7, 2019

Wednesday's indictments of three people in the United States for spying on Twitter
 users critical of the Saudi royal family are the latest in a spate of allegations against
the kingdom, which has long sought to stamp out online dissent (AFP Photo/Alastair Pike)

Dubai (AFP) - The US Justice Department has charged three people, including two Saudis, with spying on Twitter users critical of the kingdom's royal family.

The trio worked to unmask the ownership details behind dissident Twitter accounts on behalf of someone prosecutors designated "Royal Family Member-1", which The Washington Post reported was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

Here is a look at how Saudi Arabia has cracked down on dissent and criticism on social media.

'Lord of the flies'

Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court's media czar and a close confidant of Prince Mohammed, has long elicited fear in the kingdom, earning nicknames such as "troll master", "Mr Hashtag" and "lord of the flies" for managing an electronic army to intimidate critics of the kingdom.

Qahtani was sacked over his suspected role in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. He has not appeared in public since the murder and his whereabouts are unknown.

Last year, The New York Times reported that Qahtani spearheaded an official Saudi effort to harass and silence the kingdom's critics on Twitter by using troll farms.

Qahtani also "tried to buy tools that would let him ban Twitter accounts" of critics, according to a Bellingcat investigation.

In September, Twitter said it shut down thousands of accounts worldwide for spreading misinformation, including some artificially amplifying pro-Saudi messaging as part of a regional propaganda war.

It also shut down Qahtani's account, which had some 1.3 million followers.

Aggressive diplomacy

Saudi Arabia has also deployed Twitter to go after governments critical of Saudi Arabia, including rival Qatar which has faced a Riyadh-led economic boycott since June 2017.

A bitter row erupted with Ottawa last year after an Arabic language tweet on August 5 from the Canadian embassy in Riyadh -- calling for the "immediate release" of activists jailed in the kingdom -- infuriated the Saudi government.

Saudi Arabia subsequently expelled Canada's ambassador and froze all new trade, in a clearly combative approach to international censure.

Multiple Western officials said Canada was asked to delete that tweet, which in Arabic is seen to have the potential to go viral in the kingdom, an absolute monarchy known for its tightly controlled public messaging.

While the message was also tweeted in English, a Western official said the Arabic version was interpreted locally as an attempt to "communicate directly" with Saudi people -- a serious infraction in the eyes of the kingdom.

Staying out of trouble

Saudi Arabia has more than 11 million Twitter users, according to marketing and research firm Talkwalker.

Around 70 percent of the country’s 34 million people are "active social media users", Talkwalker says.

But the crackdown on dissidents has prompted many Saudis to shut down their Twitter accounts -- including those engaged constructively in critiquing Prince Mohammed's reforms.

Growing nationalism also appears to be causing alarm.

In a televised debate last year, Shura Council member Abdallah al-Fawzan said Saudis had the right to brand someone a "traitor" if that person fails to defend the country or chooses to remain silent.

Saudi economist Essam al-Zamil was targeted by authorities last year after he tweeted criticism of the government’s planned public listing of state oil giant Aramco.

Zamil, "who had called into question Saudi projections of revenue from the Aramco initial public offering", is on trial for alleged membership of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Human Rights Watch.

#UPDATE Two former Twitter employees and a third man were charged in San Francisco Federal Court Wednesday with spying on Twitter users critical of the Saudi royal family, the US Justice Department announced https://t.co/vKWRkuBDmG

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 7 november 2019

Innovative Iraqis dodge net blackout to illuminate protest violence

Yahoo – AFP, Maya Gebeily, October 5, 2019

Protesters have used mobile phones to film against a backdrop of tear gas volleys
and live rounds during demonstrations that have gripped Iraq since Tuesday (AFP
Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

Baghdad (AFP) - With secret satellites, pricey messages abroad and clandestine file transfers, young Iraqis are circumventing an internet blackout aimed at stifling several days of bloody protests in the capital and beyond.

Authorities restricted access to Facebook and Whatsapp after anti-government demonstrations began on Tuesday, before ordering a total network shutdown on Wednesday.

The termination of Wifi, 3G and 4G access left protestors with just regular phone calls and mobile messages -- a few notable exceptions aside.

Ahmad, 29, works at an internet service provider that helped implement the government's shutdown, but still has internet access at its headquarters.

"I go to the protests in the morning and shoot video on my phone, then use the internet at work to upload them to Facebook or send them to media outside Iraq," he said, using a fake name for fear of retribution or legal action by the government.

Protesters say the internet outage is an attempt to suppress reports of security forces using indiscriminate force including tear gas, live rounds and water cannons.

Ahmad showed AFP footage he planned to send to international media later that evening -- shots could be heard fired across a mostly-empty street in Baghdad as he and fellow protesters took cover behind a concrete barrier.

"Friends are even giving me the footage they shoot on flash drives so everyone outside Iraq can see what's happening here," he said.

Iraqi protesters take cover in Baghdad's central Khellani Square, while using their 

mobile phones - devices that have been key to citizen efforts to record alleged heavy 

handed tactics by security forces (AFP Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

Before Tuesday, many Iraqis had taken to Facebook and Instagram to call for initial protests against a range of grievances: unemployment, mass government corruption, nepotism, poor public services, and more.

Images of young men and women marching towards the emblematic Tahrir Square flooded social media the first day, using the hashtag #save_Iraqi_people.

When restrictions on Facebook began, Iraqis acted quickly; many downloaded virtual private network (VPN) applications.

Others even began surreptitiously posting the details of the next protests in the comments section of Cinemana, a popular streaming service in Iraq.

But those avenues were shut off by the systemic shutdown.

Those that could afford to therefore erected costly satellites on their rooftops to get a window into the outside world.

'Follow the gunfire'

Nearly 100 people have died in the demonstrations since Tuesday, most of them protesters but also personnel from the security forces, according to authorities.

"They’re trying to fight us not just with arms, but with this blackout," said 31-year-old protester Osama Mohammad.

"We used to check the different neighbourhoods' Facebook pages to know where to go for protests. Now we just follow the sound of gunfire," Mohammad told AFP.

Live rounds have allegedly repeatedly been fired during the protests, which have 

evolved into calls for fundamental government change (AFP Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

"If they cut off regular phone lines, we'll be completely blind," he noted.

For 25-year-old women's rights activist Rasha, taking to the streets carries too much risk, but she says she has found a different way to get involved.

Every day, her male friends text her dozens of updates from protest squares across the country, which she then texts and phones through to friends in the United Arab Emirates and Europe.

"I'm an intermediary. I can’t protest myself so this is the least I can do," she said, telling AFP the phone credit she buys has cost her around $100 (90 euros) per day for the last three days.

Rasha, who comes from Baghdad, is also saving videos and other unpublished material from one of the first protests that turned violent. She attended that initial demonstration.

"They think we'll forget they fired at us, they think people won't know. But I've got the videos and I'll publish everything I saw that day the minute the internet comes back," she said.

Jaafar Raad, an unemployed 29-year-old Iraqi who has frequently protested, is also storing dozens of images and videos to release once the blackout is lifted.

He even records voice notes from the protests themselves in applications like Whatsapp and Facebook, so that the audio messages will automatically send to friends abroad and international media outlets as soon as the internet returns.

"People must know what happened to us. This is so we can hold those behind the violence accountable," he told AFP.

#UPDATE The United Nations urged an end to violence in Iraq, after five days of anti-government rallies marred by the killing of nearly 100 people, mainly protesters https://t.co/BwOOH1xgzN pic.twitter.com/M919mR4vcP

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 5 oktober 2019

Related Article:

“The End of History”, Seattle, Washington, Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll

“… The Internet - The first Worldwide Tool of Unification

Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.

I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when "everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy." For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?  ... “

Trump can't block Twitter critics, appeals court affirms

Yahoo – AFP, July 9, 2019

US President Donald Trump is not legally entitled to block his critics on Twitter, an
appeals court ruled, because he has been using the account in his official capacity
(AFP Photo/Eric BARADAT)

Washington (AFP) - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that US President Donald Trump cannot legally block users on Twitter based on their political differences with him, affirming a lower court decision.

The three-judge panel agreed with last year's ruling by a federal judge that Trump was using "viewpoint discrimination" in violation of the constitutional rights of people with opposing views.

The Second Circuit Appeals Court sidestepped the question of the president's free speech rights under the constitution's First Amendment on a privately owned internet platform, but affirmed that Trump had effectively created a public forum for official White House business.

"The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise‐open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees," the judges wrote in a 29-page opinion.

The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of Twitter users and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, alleging that Trump improperly blocked comments from his political opponents.

Plaintiffs, including a University of Maryland professor, a Texas police officer and a New York comic, said they were blocked from the @realDonaldTrump account after posting tweets critical of his policies.

Trump's legal response is that he is not acting in his official capacity when he blocks users, but the court disagreed.

US President Donald Trump's decision to block people on Twitter who voiced
disagreement with him prompted a federal lawsuit arguing he was using his
personal account as an official forum (AFP Photo/Brendan SMIALOWSKI)

"The president and multiple members of his administration have described his use of the account as official," the appeals court ruling said.

"We conclude that the evidence of the official nature of the account is overwhelming. We also conclude that once the president has chosen a platform and opened up its interactive space to millions of users and participants, he may not selectively exclude those whose views he disagrees with."

Another appeal?

The Justice Department, which represented the president, has the option to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.

"We are disappointed with the court's decision and are exploring possible next steps," Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco said in an emailed statement.

"As we argued, President Trump's decision to block users from his personal Twitter account does not violate the First Amendment."

The Knight Institute said the ruling could set an important precedent as more public officials turn to social media for official business.

"Public officials' social media accounts are now among the most significant forums for discussion of government policy," said Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute's executive director.

"This decision will ensure that people aren't excluded from these forums simply because of their viewpoints, and that public officials aren't insulated from their constituents' criticism. The decision will help ensure the integrity and vitality of digital spaces that are increasingly important to our democracy."

Secretive 'hero' blogger rips into Kremlin, one click at a time

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO, May 4, 2019

Alexander Gorbunov, the man behind the StalinGulag blog, has emerged as one
 of President Vladimir Putin's sharpest critics (AFP Photo/Alexander NEMENOV)

Moscow (AFP) - He is wheelchair-bound and has limited use of his hands but Alexander Gorbunov, the author of hugely popular social media accounts in Russia, has emerged as one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics.

Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and using his right index finger to type, the 27-year-old author of StalinGulag skewers the "hypocrisy" of Putin's system and the everyday injustices ordinary Russians face.

Known for his dry wit and generous use of profanities, StalinGulag has built a near 1.5 million strong army of followers on Twitter and Telegram, with a total media outreach believed to include several million more.

For years the StalinGulag author's identity remained one of Russia's best-kept secrets but Gorbunov blew his cover after authorities began harrassing his 65-year-old mother and 80-year-old father last week.

Gorbunov, an intelligent, soft-spoken man with a goatee, said he and his wife have been on tenterhooks.

"They can easily arrest and put in prison anyone," Gorbunov told AFP in an interview, saying that even a short stint in jail could kill him.

"They don't care."

In an increasing crackdown on dissent, Putin in March signed laws that allow courts to fine and briefly jail people for showing disrespect towards the authorities and to block media for publishing "fake news".

Alexander Gorbunov, now known as a top Russian opposition blogger StalinGulag, 

has a sharp wit and no illusions about his illness and his own future (AFP Photo/

Alexander NEMENOV)

'Damn hero'

Gorbunov, who is a successful self-taught financial trader by day, dreads publicity but this week revealed his identity to BBC and later spoke to AFP after gun-toting police inspected his parents' home in the North Caucasus city of Makhachkala.

His relatives in Moscow have also been intimidated, he says.

"If the authorities are afraid of what I write they are worthless," he said.

Gorbunov's story has stunned Russia.

"This person is a damn hero," said screenwriter Andrew Ryvkin, while author Denis Bilunov called Gorbunov "the person of the year."

In a show of solidarity, Pavel Durov, the self-exiled founder of the Telegram messenger app, verified the StalinGulag account and offered his author help in moving abroad.

Gorbunov said he was heartened by the outpouring of support from Russians who have flooded him with offers of help and money. He has chalked up some 40,000 new followers over the past week.

The blogger insisted he was neither a hero nor an opposition activist. He said he merely puts in writing his thoughts on everything from Russia's foreign policy blunders to the excessive lifestyle of Putin's inner circle.

"What's happening in the country is terrible," Gorbunov said. "Injstice is what angers me the most."

In a 2018 post, he issued a dark warning to his readers.

"Really scary times are coming," he said, urging Russians to look out for each other. "This is the reality and not everyone will get out alive."

Gorbunov lives with his partner of seven years in a comfortable Moscow apartment, employs two drivers and a live-in aide and enjoys an active social life.

He does not want to reveal his income but says he forks out around 400,000 rubles ($6,145) every month just to cover his rent and pay his helpers.

Alexander Gorbunov, the man behind the StalinGulag blog, does not believe he 

will see a change of leadership in his lifetime (AFP Photo/Alexey NIKOLSKY)

He refuses to take any medication, saying his condition is incurable and he had no illusions about his future.

"I don't want to turn my life into a silly battle," he said. "It's a battle I am going to lose."

'Not an optimist'

A lawyer by training, he works more than 10 hours a day, sometimes waking up at night if the market moves. He writes posts for his StalinGulag accounts when the mood strikes him and he needs a short break from work.

He appears to take some of his inspiration from his favourite book, "Journey to the End of the Night" by French novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

The 1932 World War I classic filled with profanities expresses disgust with the hypocrisy of society and laments the misery of human existence.

Gorbunov is fiercely protective of his wife who sometimes holds his hand as he speaks to AFP and helps him drink from a cup. They met seven years ago but refuse to reveal details about their relationship.

His story has generated huge media interest in Russia but Gorbunov hopes the buzz will soon subside. He wants to get on with his life, watch the last season of Game of Thrones and keep trading and writing his blogs.

He travels sometimes but has never been to Europe.

Not that he plans to leave Russia, even though life for people with disabilies here is a relentless daily struggle, saying he wants to be together with his loved ones.

For all his dark humour and keen intelligence, Gorbunov refuses to make any predictions about the future of the country -- or his own.

He has a feeling however that he will not see a change of leadership in his lifetime.

"I am not an optimist in this sense."

China's Weibo backtracks on gay content ban

Yahoo – AFP, Becky Davis, April 16, 2018

China's popular Sina Weibo microblogging platform reverses decision to block

'homosexual' content following storm of online protest

China's popular Weibo microblogging platform on Monday reversed a decision to block "homosexual" content, in an unusual concession to a storm of online protest at the weekend.

Sina Weibo said in a statement Friday it had begun a three-month-long "clean-up campaign" to remove "illegal" content, including "manga and videos with pornographic implications, promoting violence or (related to) homosexuality".

But the Twitter-like platform backtracked on Monday, stating on its administrators' official account: "This clean-up of games and manga is no longer directed at homosexual content, but is primarily to clean up pornographic and bloody, violent content."

It also thanked the public for "discussions and suggestions".

Weibo's decision on gay content had prompted a tide of protest from outraged users who rallied behind the hashtag "#IamGay", viewed some 240 million times before it was banned by the platform on Saturday.

Even the Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily jumped into the discussion, posting an essay promoting LGBT acceptance to its official Weibo account on Saturday. The posting was viewed nearly 6.5 million times.

"Everyone is unique and sexuality is just one side of us that differs, just like skin colour, height and weight," the essay said.

But it added that "even homosexual people are regular citizens" whose affiliated content was not above being subjected to censorship laws against porn and violence.

Monday's reversal was met with an outpouring of support.

"I support Sina in clearing out pornographic content, but it definitely must not do so as before and target homosexuality -- that kind of discrimination is wrong," wrote one user.

"Through everyone's unrelenting efforts, we finally got a basic right -- how rare!" wrote another.

A third said: "Although I still don't like you, I thank you."

Gay Voices, which has since 2009 been one of Weibo's major LGBT accounts with some 230,000 followers, had on Friday declared it would be forced to indefinitely suspend its postings.

On Monday it was back online and thanking supporters, saying: "Only by speaking up can we affect change."

Weibo's purge was the latest move in a crackdown by the ruling Communist Party to clear the Chinese internet of any content deviating from its "core values ​​of socialism", while stifling criticism of social norms and established policies.

The platform -- which has some 400 million active monthly users -- said in its original Friday statement that it was merely implementing China's new cybersecurity law and had already removed some 56,240 items.

'A step further'

Much of the homosexual content on Weibo is fuelled not by LGBT activists, who are quite low-profile, but by the large online community of "funu" ("rotten girls") -- heterosexual women who are avid fans of male gay romances and share comics or stories, frequently erotic.

The affair has highlighted the cultural gap between younger Chinese more open to LGBT issues and "China's older generation -- mostly very conservative 40-year-old men -- who are now the main force of our society because they control the resources," Xiao Tie, director of the Beijing LGBT Center, told AFP, using a nickname.

Xiao Tie said the homosexuality ban was a result of over-cautiousness in the absence of specific information from authorities on what kind of content should be censored.

"Sina Weibo doesn't want to make trouble, so they went a step further with their censorship before the government even asked for it," she said.

China has a mixed track record with gay themes in cultural products.

Last year it banned gay content from all online streaming platforms

Last month it pulled the Oscar-winning film "Call Me by Your Name" from the ongoing Beijing International Film Festival.

But after a two-year delay, Chinese theatres on Friday finally released "Seek McCartney", a film about a secret homosexual romance between Chinese and French lovers that has been hailed as the country's first gay movie.

Outcry as White House bars top US media from briefing

Yahoo – AFP, February 25, 2017

An empty podium is seen at an off-camera briefing held with a small group of
reporters and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in the White House
February 24, 2017 (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - Major US media outlets condemned as "unacceptable" and an "insult to democratic ideals" a decision by President Donald Trump's White House to bar several organizations, including CNN and The New York Times, from a daily press briefing.

In an escalation in the administration's war on the media, the White House Friday excluded some outlets that have provided critical coverage from an off-camera event that replaced the traditional on-camera daily briefing.

Friendly conservative outlets like Fox News, the One America News Network and Breitbart News were allowed to attend, while the BBC, The Los Angeles Times and others were excluded.

Trump on Friday decried the media as the "enemy of the people," a day after his top strategist promised relations with the press will get "worse every day."

A number of news outlets that regularly cover the White House as part of the "pool," including newswires Reuters and Bloomberg, attended the briefing.

The Associated Press boycotted in protest. AFP protested being excluded, despite being in the "pool," and attended the briefing uninvited.

The White House Correspondents Association said it was "protesting strongly" against the White House decision, and promised to bring it up with White House staff.

During the off-camera briefing spokesman Sean Spicer said that the White House has shown an "abundance of accessibility... making ourselves, our team and our briefing room more accessible than probably any previous administration."

It is not uncommon for Republican and Democratic administrations to brief select reporters, but the event was initially billed as a regular briefing open to credentialed media.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper decried the move as "un-American."

"This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House," CNN's communications department wrote on Twitter.

"Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don't like. We'll keep reporting regardless."

The New York Times wrote in an editorial that the exclusion was an "unmistakable insult to democratic ideals."

The White House Correspondents Association said it was "protesting strongly" 

against the decision to only allow a small group of reporters being briefed during an 

off camera meeting with Press Secretary Sean Spicer (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Several outlets refered to a December interview in which Spicer told Politico that the Trump White House would never ban a news outlet. "Conservative, liberal or otherwise, I think that's what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship," he said.

"Greatest threat to democracy"

Media organizations were not alone in defending the free press.

"Trump is supposed to be a public servant, and the truth is a public good," said Robert Reich, a UC Berkeley economist, former labor secretary and a prominent Democratic figure.

"But he continues to lie incessantly, and punish media that call him out," Reich wrote on Facebook. "These are the sort of antics we'd expect from a two-bit dictator but not from the President of the United States."

John Dean, the White House counsel for Republican president Richard Nixon in the 1970s, described the Trump media bashing as "more Nixonian than Nixon."

Nixon blasted the media as "the enemy" behind closed doors, Dean, 78, told the Democracy Now! radio show on Friday.

"The big difference is, Trump is doing this right out" and challenging the US constitution's first amendment that guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. He described it as "very startling and very troubling."

"Nixon failed, and he had a deep reservoir of ill will to draw on when he got himself in real trouble. And I think Trump is creating the same problem for himself."

Trump's hostility towards the press "may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime," said William McRaven, a retired admiral and Navy SEAL who oversaw the raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.

McRaven made the remarks at the college of communication at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the student newspaper. McRaven became head of the UT system after retiring in 2014.

"Flaws and all, I believe the free press is our country’s most important institution," McRaven, who has a degree in journalism, added in a blog post Thursday.

The United States "has the finest press corps in the world, bar none," he wrote. 

Dutch MP’s Facebook profile removed for several hours after Erdogan message

DutchNews, May 10, 2016    

Photo: Facebook

The Facebook profile of Labour MP Keklik Yücel was removed for several hours on Tuesday afternoon shortly after she published a piece criticising ‘the long arm of [Turkish president] Erdogan’, the Volkskrant reported. 

In the past weeks, Yücel has taken up the cause of Dutch-Turkish columnist Ebru Umar, who has been under house arrest in Turkey for a fortnight for ‘insulting’ tweets about president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Yücel wrote on Facebook that many Dutch people of Turkish origin did not welcome this support. She spread her message on Twitter this morning, with the hashtag #FreeEbru, and a few hours later her entire profile disappeared. 

Facebook denied that the two issues were connected. ‘We want to emphasise that temporarily taking an account offline has nothing to do with the MP’s political comments,’ Facebook is quoted as saying by broadcaster NOS. 

The social media platform said there are several reasons why and account may be temporarily suspended but made no further comment about the reasoning in Yücel’s case.

 The PvdA issued a statement saying: ‘We find it unacceptable that a voice of the people who writes a candid story about her motives and ideas should have her profile simply taken offline. We have told Facebook this, asking it to reactivate her profile immediately.’

Related Articles:

Dutch journalist 'detained in Turkey' over Erdogan criticism

Freedom of speech cannot be bargained with, says Dutch foreign minister

Turkey YouTube ban violated freedom of expression: Europe court

Yahoo – AFP, 1 december 2015

A Turkish court had barred access to video-sharing site YouTube over 10 videos
 deemed insulting to modern Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
(AFP Photo/Samantha Sin)

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Turkey had violated conventions on freedom of expression when it banned YouTube for more than two years.

An Ankara court had barred access to the video-sharing site from May 2008 to October 2010 over 10 videos deemed insulting to modern Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Strasbourg-based rights tribunal said.

"Blocking without a legal basis users' access to YouTube infringed the right to receive and impart information," it said, ruling on a case brought by three Turkish law professors.

"The court also found that there was no provision in the law allowing the domestic courts to impose a blanket blocking order on access to the Internet, and in the present case to YouTube, on account of one of its contents."

The lengthy ban on YouTube -- and thousands of other websites -- had prompted widespread concern about freedom of expression under then prime minister and now President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who critics say has become increasingly authoritarian.

Before the ban, YouTube had been the fifth most popular site in Turkey.

Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been repeatedly criticised for using court orders to block critical websites, topping a Google table for content removal requests.

Last year the search engine also accused Turkey of intercepting its Internet domain, redirecting users to other sites.

The government blocked Twitter and YouTube in March 2014 after they were used to spread a torrent of audio recordings implicating Erdogan -- then premier -- and his inner circle in an alleged corruption scandal.

Turkey's parliament in March also approved legislation to tighten the government's control over the Internet by allowing it to block websites without prior judicial authorisation, sparking outrage both at home and abroad and a condemnation from the country's Constitutional Court.

Erdogan has also made no secret of his disdain for social networks, comparing them to a "murderer's knife" and once famously vowing to "eradicate" Twitter.

The European court said in its ruling Tuesday that "YouTube was a single platform which enabled information of specific interest, particularly on political and social matters, to be broadcast.

"It was therefore an important source of communication and the blocking order precluded access to specific information which it was not possible to access by other means."

Related Article:

Third Turkish journalist arrested amid fears of Ankara censorship: reports

India lifts ban on porn sites after public outcry

The Indian government has revoked a controversial order to block hundreds of porn websites following a public backlash. The ban will remain in place for sites that feature child pornography.

Deutsche Welle, 5 August 2015

India's telecommunications authorities gave service providers the go-ahead on Wednesday to restore access to most of the 857 websites that had been blocked, a ministry spokesman said.

"ISPs are free to allow access to the previously banned websites, which do not have child pornographic content," telecoms department spokesman N. N. Kaul told the AFP news agency.

The government moved over the weekend to shut down the list of flagged adult sites on "morality and decency" grounds. It said restricting access to pornographic content was a necessary step after the Supreme Court raised concerns last month that not enough was being done to crack down on child porn on the Internet.

Censorship of Internet content is common in India, but the order to block hundreds of adult sites was the first big crackdown on Internet pornography.

Uproar on social media

The ban sparked a debate about Internet freedom and an outcry on social media, with the hashtag #pornban trending on Twitter's India domain. Best-selling author Chetan Bhaglat, who had criticized the ban, welcomed Wednesday's reversal.

Glad government had another look at a porn ban order and ensured individual freedom was not compromised. A responsive govt is always good.

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 5 augustus 2015

Others were more apprehensive. Some service providers complained the onus had now shifted to them to control access to child pornography.

"This is a very vague order. There is no clarity and until we don't get clear answers, we will keep the websites blocked," Rajesh Chharia, head of the Internet Service Providers Association of India, told AFP.

India has been accused of encroaching on online freedom in the past. In 2011, the government urged social networks to screen content and remove offensive material. One year later, authorities ordered dozens of Facebook and Twitter accounts to be blocked for spreading rumors.

India has 350 million Internet users - the second largest number after China - and use of smartphones. Social media use is rising rapidly in the country.

nm/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP)