Turkey Bans Access To Social Networking Website Reddit

The Turkish Government has reportedly blocked access to popular social networking site Reddit under the country's Internet censorship law 5651.

Telecom Authority of Turkey (TIB) revealed in an official statement that access to Reddit has been blocked.

"After technical analysis and legal consideration based on the Law Nr. 5651, ADMINISTRATION MEASURE has been taken for this website (reddit.com) according to Decision Nr. 490.05.01.2015.-252804 dated 13/11/2015 of the Presidency of Telecommunication and Communication," read the official statement, dated November 13, reported TheVerge.

Under Turkey's Internet censorship law 5651, which was proposed in 2007, the Turkish Supreme Council for Telecommunications and IT (TIB) can block access to internet content and websites for a number of reasons, including pornography, prostitution, terrorism, sexual abuse of children, drugs, illegal file-sharing,  and even "crimes against Mustafa Kemal Atatürk", Turkey's first president.

The TIB doesn't require any permission from the court to put ban on sites on any of the above-mentioned grounds, and can block access even if there is only a suspicion of any such activities happening.

While no logical reason has been given for the ban on Reddit, the government's move is being considered as against the freedom of speech and expression, reported IBTimes.

This is not the first time that the Turkish government has taken an aggressive stance towards social networking sites. YouTube and Twitter were banned last year, after which the court overturned the order. However, there was no reason given as to why the popular social networking websites sites were banned.

Many users have reported that the ban has been put on the DNS level. This means that users who are truly missing Reddit can easily evade the ban by using a foreign DNS service such as the Google Public DNS. It's not clear how long the block will remain in effect.