Turkey blocks Reddit access, then unblocks it without explanation, The Independent

Turkey blocks Reddit access, then unblocks it without explanation

The law that Reddit was banned under has previously been used to block access to Twitter and YouTube

  • Doug Bolton
  • @DougieBolton
  • Monday sixteen November two thousand fifteen 16:06 GMT

The Independent Tech

The Turkish government blocked access to Reddit on Friday without any warning, before unblocking it again over the weekend for no apparent reason.

Reddit was blocked on Friday thirteen November under Internet Law No. 5651, which has been used to block sites like Twitter and YouTube in the past.

Turkey censors media coverage of bombing as Twitter ‘blocked’

Then, at some point on Sunday, the site was unblocked and became loosely available in Turkey once again.

It’s not known why the bizarre blocking happened, but it’s fairly commonplace in Turkey, and many internet users lightly skirt government blocks anyway.

Many choose to use a foreign DNS service, which routes traffic through a different country, thus circumventing the ban.

Others pay for virtual private network (VPN) service, the same kind that many use to access services like American Netflix from the UK (Netflix has banned this practice, but it still resumes).

Gadgets and tech news in pictures

Gadgets and tech news in pictures

Designed by Pierpaolo Lazzarini from Italian company Jet Capsule. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electrical engines, which is able to thrust the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

Jet Capsule/Cover Pictures

A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Implements Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech two thousand seventeen held in Bangalore

A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Implements Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech two thousand seventeen held in Bangalore

Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Photos

Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Pictures

The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie ‘Avatar’ and is claimed as a world very first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Pictures

Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Photos

Waseda University’s saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi

Waseda University’s saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session

A test line of a fresh energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

A test line of a fresh energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China

A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China

A visitor attempts a Nissan VR practice at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China

A man looks at an exhibit entitled ‘Mimus’ a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the fresh Design Museum in South Kensington, London

A fresh Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv

Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electrified Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Demonstrate in Los Angeles, California, U.S

The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the embark of a fresh era for Jaguar. This is a production preview of the Jaguar I-PACE, which will be exposed next year and on the road in 2018

Japan’s On-Art Corp’s CEO Kazuya Kanemaru poses with his company’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’ and other robots during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan

Japan’s On-Art Corp’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’

Japan’s On-Art Corp’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’ performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan

Singulato Motors co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin poses in his company’s concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China

The interior of Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China

Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0

A picture shows Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China

Connected company president Shigeki Tomoyama addresses a press briefing as he elaborates on Toyota’s "connected strategy" in Tokyo.
 The Connected company is a part of seven Toyota in-house companies that was created in April 2016

A Toyota Motors employee demonstrates a smartphone app with the company’s pocket plug-in hybrid (PHV) service on the cockpit of the latest Prius hybrid vehicle during Toyota’s "connected strategy" press briefing in Tokyo

An exhibitor charges the battery cells of AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to budge in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo

A robot with a touch-screen information apps stroll down the pavillon at the Singapore International Robo Expo

An exhibitor demonstrates the AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to budge in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo

Robotic fishes swim in a water glass tank displayed at the Korea pavillon during Singapore International Robo Expo

An employee shows a Samsung Electronics’ Gear S3 Classic during Korea Electronics Demonstrate two thousand sixteen in Seoul, South Korea

Visitors practice Samsung Electronics’ Gear VR during the Korea Electronics Grand Fair at an exhibition hall in Seoul, South Korea

Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer’s Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the very first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Chris Burbridge, Autonomous Driving Software Engineer for Tata Motors European Technical Centre, demonstrates the car manufacturer’s GLOSA V2X functionality, which is connected to the traffic lights and shares information with the driver, during the very first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Ford EEBL Emergency Electronic Brake Lights is demonstrated during the very first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Full-scale model of ‘Kibo’ on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan

Miniatures on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan.
 In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module ‘Kibo’ of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles

The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week two thousand sixteen at Tokyo Big Glance. At this biennial event, the participating companies exhibit their latest service robotic technologies and components

The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to music during the Japan Robot Week two thousand sixteen at Tokyo Big Look

Government and industry are working together on a robot-like autopilot system that could eliminate the need for a 2nd human pilot in the cockpit

Aurora Flight Sciences’ technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the rock hard’s Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.

43/43 Flight Simulator

Stefan Schwart and Udo Klingenberg preparing a self-built flight simulator to land at Hong Kong airport, from Rostock, Germany

Like switching the DNS address, the VPN substitutes your IP address, permitting it to show up like you’re in a different country and getting round the censorship.

Reddit announces when they conform with a request from a government or copyright holder to take down or block certain content on the subreddit r/ChillingEffects, in an effort to make the site’s management more translucent.

Read more

Presently, there is nothing on the subreddit that mentions specific requested blocks from Turkey.

However, the law that Reddit was blocked under permits the censorship of certain sites if they contain pirated material, pornography or anything that insults Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the very first president and founder of modern Turkey.

Given the large amount of NSFW content on Reddit, it’s likely the ban was over pornography, but the real reason for the brief block is unlikely to be exposed.

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