Twitter Turkey News Update: Turkey's government stood by an order on Friday to block Twitter. Reuters reported that this happened 'hours after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened to shut down access to the social media platform as he battles a damaging corruption scandal.'

Those who are trying to open the Twitter.com website were lead to a statement from Turkey's telecommunications regulator (TIB). Four court orders are specified in the said statement as the basis for blocking the site.

Lutfi Elvan, a government minister quoted by the semiofficial Anadolu News Agency said. "Blocking access was a court ruling, not a political decision. Turkey is not a country prohibiting the Internet. Twitter, YouTube and other social media networks have to abide by the law in Turkey."

New York Times stated that, 'Since December, when a corruption investigation ensnared government officials and businessmen, including the son of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, social media networks including Twitter and YouTube have become critical alternatives to traditional media outlets. A barrage of leaks of dozens of phone calls and documents posted by unidentified critics has presented Mr. Erdogan with perhaps the biggest challenge in his 11 years in office.'

According to Reuters, some users have posted voice recordings and documents in recent weeks allegedly indicate evidence of corruption among Erdogan's inner circle.

The Guardian said, after the Twitter ban came to effect last Friday, the company tweeted instructions to users in Turkey on how to sidestep it using text messaging services in Turkish and English. 'Turkish tweeters were quick to share other methods of tiptoeing around the ban, using "virtual private networks" (VPNs) - which allow internet users to connect to the web undetected - or changing the domain name on computers and mobile devices to conceal their geographic whereabouts.'

"I am able to tweet because my DNS settings allow it. That will probably be banned tomorrow as well. I hope that all those who are cursing and using fake accounts will have learnt their lesson," Melih Gökcek, the mayor of Ankara, famous for his rather bullish use of Twitter posted. He was the first politician from Erdogan's ruling AK party to breach the ban as reported by The Guardian.

Several human rights groups strongly denounced Turkey's action, cautioning that the ban spelled added disturbing move towards increased authoritarianism in the country.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch said, "Prime Minister Erdogan's move spells the lengths he will go to censor the flood of politically damaging wiretap recordings circulating on social media."

Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's Turkey researcher said in a public statement, "The decision to block Twitter is an unprecedented attack on internet freedom and freedom of expression in Turkey. The draconian measure, brought under Turkey's restrictive internet law, shows the lengths the government is prepared to go to prevent anti-government criticism."