ECHR Rules Turkish Court Order Blocking YouTube Access Violated Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously ruled that the “freedom of expression” rights of three Turkish nationals were violated under Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights when a Turkish court blocked access to Google's YouTube…
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(see 1511300016). ECHR said in a Tuesday news release that the three individuals were “prevented from accessing YouTube for a lengthy period of time and … they could legitimately claim that the blocking order in question had affected their right to receive and impart information and ideas.” Seven ECHR judges said YouTube was an “important source” for the three complainants -- law professors Serkan Cengiz, Yaman Akdeniz and Kerem Altıparmak -- and the blocking order from the Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance prevented them from accessing “specific information” that they were unable to obtain through another channel. ECHR also said Turkish law didn't allow the domestic court “to impose a blanket blocking order on access to the Internet,” and such a blocking order could be imposed only on a specific publication suspected of a violation. ECHR said the Turkish court didn't directly target the three individuals. Google and the Turkish Embassy in Washington did not comment.