How Wikipedia fought back against a ban in Turkey.
SlateWelcome to Source Notes, a Future Tense column about the internet’s knowledge ecosystem. Put simply, the legal strategy to fight the Wikipedia block in Turkey included an appeal to the country’s own constitutional principles, with additional pressure via the indirect power of international law. Indonesian Wikipedia editor Ramzy Muliawan said, “In countries that lack due process of law, you need a combination of lawyering and public policy lobbying.” “If you need to know something that’s happening right now in Venezuela, you need to go to the internet.” — Wikimedia Venezuela representative But contributors who live within the censored countries noted that these public relations campaigns can be tricky. Wikipedia’s VPN policy creates an interesting paradox: During the time that Wikipedia was blocked in Turkey, Turks could bypass the block by using a VPN, which would allow them to read Wikipedia. As one editor told me, Turkish Wikipedia has been maintained for the past two years primarily by the community of “diaspora Turks.” Users can request an IP block exemption that would allow them to edit using a VPN.
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Turkish apex court rules the government violated freedoms by banning Wikipedia
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