Wikipedia is now accessible in Turkey and thus, citizens can access the information website. This comes after 33 months of restriction in the country, since April 2017.
Wikipedia turned 19 years old on 15th January 2020, and it made the announcement via its Twitter handle.
The best present we got for Wikipedia’s 19th birthday was being unblocked in Turkey. 🇹🇷 (thread) https://t.co/kSVETTU5CO
— Wikipedia (@Wikipedia) January 16, 2020
The Turkish government mounted the block after a short battle between them and Wikipedia. In 2017, an article surfaced on the service that fingered Turkey’s connection to Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda in Syria.
Despite the affected government’s directive to have the article removed, Wikipedia had refused, resulting in its ban in the country.
Now, after 991 days, Turkey lifts the ban.
But as the platform revealed, the unblocking is a gradual process. It explained:
(All that said: we understand that the block is being lifted *gradually*. If you are not yet able to access Wikipedia in Turkey, hold tight and we hope you will regain access shortly.)
— Wikipedia (@Wikipedia) January 16, 2020
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This news followed congratulatory messages as people hailed freedom of speech for accomplishing another feat. Wikimedia Foundation hosts Wikipedia.
Wikipedia has also faced many criticisms in the past. Most times, critics attack its content, its community of established users, and its processes. They point at the fact that most articles are not accurate and have readability issues.
However, the service stated that it receives lots of contributors. It tweeted:
Freedom of information is a foundation of free knowledge, and we believe that free access to knowledge is a human right. Wikipedia articles are better, more neutral, and more accurate when everyone can contribute to them.
— Wikipedia (@Wikipedia) January 16, 2020
In July 2019, Wikipedia.org was listed as the fifth most visited website in the world according to Digital Information World. It had over 3.11 page views every day.
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