Turkey reinstates YouTube ban

ANKARA, TURKEY: A Turkish court has reinstated a 30-month ban on YouTube just days after it was removed, as a dispute continued over the video-sharing website's refusal to remove content deemed illegal in the EU candidate country.

Access to YouTube, a unit of Google Inc, has been blocked by the Turkish government since May 2008 after users posted videos Turkey says are insulting to the republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

A court in Ankara on Saturday lifted the ban, which has drawn widespread criticism of Ankara's restrictive Internet laws, after a German-based firm at the request of Turkish authorities removed the videos by using an automated copyright system designed by Google to protect copyrighted material.

YouTube later said it had reinstated the videos, arguing such videos did not violate users' copyright.

But a separate court in Ankara ruled late on Tuesday that the ban should be reinstated -- this time over a secretly taped video purportedly showing the former chairman of the opposition in a bedroom with an aide.

State-run news agency Anatolian said the court had notified the telecommunications authority of its decision.

"The court has ruled that the ban on video sharing website Youtube be reinstated. The Telecommunications Board will ask YouTube to remove the videos or otherwise the access to the website would be blocked," Anatolian said.

Telecommunication Board officials could not be reached for comment. Google representatives in Turkey said they were checking the reports.

Turkish visitors to the YouTube site have been able to circumvent the ban by using proxy websites.

Human rights groups and media watchdog associations have long urged European Union membership candidate Turkey to reform its Internet laws. Turkey has cited offences including child pornography, insulting Ataturk and encouraging suicide as justification for blocking websites.

Analysts have criticised the ease with which citizens and politicians can apply under Turkish law to have an Internet site closed down.

In June, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Turkey's Internet law had been expanded to bar access to more than 5,000 sites. The YouTube ban has attracted particular criticism, and even President Abdullah Gul has used his Twitter page to condemn it, urging authorities to find a solution.

Google Inc's legal chief has called for pressure on governments that censor the Internet, citing China and Turkey, arguing that their blocking access to websites not only violates human rights but unfairly restrains U.S. Trade.