Turkish court blocks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for showing hostage picture

Turkey has blocked Twitter and YouTube for the second time in just over a year ahead of the country's general elections on 7 June.

Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet reported that the sites were blocked following the publication of an image of a Turkish prosecutor, Mehmet Selim Kiraz being held as a hostage in a standoff which ultimately led to his death.

The two captors were killed by security services. The press conference and funeral ceremony of Kiraz at the Eyup Sultan Mosque on 1 April saw 13 media organisations and journalists barred from attending for publishing photos of the prosecutor when he was a hostage.

The ban had initially also applied to Facebook, but has since been lifted on that particular site.

Some users have managed to find ways around the ban using virtual private networks (VPNs).

Turkey had enforced a ban on Twitter followed by YouTube last year after audio recordings allegedly showing corruption by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's inner circle were leaked.

The 2014 ban faced strong backlash from the Turkish people, who saw it as an effort to curtail freedom of speech.

The two-week ban was lifted after a constitutional court ruling said that the ban was a breach of freedom of expression.