Turkish high court to review Wikipedia appeal against ban

Turkey's highest court was scheduled on Wednesday to consider an appeal by Wikipedia aiming to reverse the Turkish government's more than two-year ban on the online encyclopedia.

Turkey blocked Wikipedia in April 2017, accusing it of being part of a "smear campaign" against Turkey, after the website refused to remove content that allegedly portrayed Turkey as a country supporting the Islamic State group and terrorist organisations.

Access to Wikipedia and all its language editions was blocked under a law that allows the government to ban websites it deems pose a national security threat.

Wikipedia declined to remove content from the community-generated site, citing its opposition to censorship.

It petitioned the Turkish Constitutional Court in May 2017 after talks with Turkish officials and a challenge in lower courts failed. Wikipedia is also appealing the ban at the European Court of Human Rights.

Turkey's Constitutional Court was scheduled to start discussing whether the government's blanket blocking order on Wikipedia violates freedom of expression.

"We did not comply with the demand to remove the articles because we believed that the content in question was legally protected free expression and because we defend our volunteer editors' decisions about what information should be included on Wikipedia," said Samantha Lien, the communications manager for Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the website.

"Despite the block, the articles in question have continued to be edited and improved with more reliable sources from volunteers around the world," Lien told The Associated Press in an email.

Last year, Wikipedia launched a social media campaign with the hashtag "WeMissTurkey" to press for the removal of the block.

"Wikipedia is richer, more representative and more accurate when many people can contribute to its articles," Lien said. "If we lose one country, region, or culture's participation on Wikipedia, the entire world is poorer for it."