Twitter files lawsuit against Turkish fine over ‘terrorist propaganda’

ISTANBUL - Reuters

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Micro-blogging site Twitter filed a lawsuit in an Ankara court on Jan. 7, seeking to annul a fine issued by Turkish authorities over the site not removing content Turkey said was “terrorist propaganda,” a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The legal challenge argued that the 150,000 Turkish Lira ($50,000) fine was against the law, the source said. Turkey temporarily banned the site several times in the past after it failed to comply with requests to remove content.

Twitter was not immediately available for comment.

This was the first time the Turkish government has ever fined the popular site, though it had temporarily banned Twitter several times after it failed to comply with requests to remove content.

“The due date for the payment of this fine expired Jan. 5. But we stand behind our decision and we’ll now take whatever measures are necessary,” Turkish Transport, Maritime and Communication Minister Binali Yıldırım said in a press conference in Ankara on Jan. 6. 

Contrary to some prior moves by Ankara, he added that it was “out of the question” to close down social media platforms, stressing that the government “just wants them to act in line with the law.”