Turkish Government Criticized for Blocking Twitter Access
- Theverge.com
VIVA – Turkiye chose to block access to Twitter following the devastating earthquake last Monday. The Turkish government did this for about 12 hours from Wednesday afternoon to early Thursday as people scrambled to find loved ones.
The social media platform was blocked on several networks inside Turkiye, according to NetBlocks, a group that tracks internet outages. It was known, people were using Twitter to share information on arriving aid and the location of those still trapped in rubble after the initial tremor on Monday.
The decision to block access to Twitter was prompted by ‘disinformation’ according to President Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Then Turkish officials held talks with Twitter and said they expected cooperation in fighting disinformation during relief work.
Gempa berkekuatan 7,8 skala richter yang mengguncang sebagian besar Turki dan Suriah, pada Senin pagi, 6 Februari 2023.
- AP Photo.
Erdogan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, said Twitter cooperated in the meeting and pledged to support Turkiye’?s efforts, and officials look forward to working with it ‘over the next few days and weeks.
“Disinformation is humanity’s common enemy and a grave threat to democracy, social peace, and national security,” he said on Twitter on Thursday.
“This had to be done because in some accounts there were untrue claims, slander, insults and posts with fraudulent purposes,” a Turkish government official told Reuters, citing efforts to steal money under the pretense of collecting aid.
A government official who requested anonymity said the move had temporarily interrupted real calls for help, but that action was taken quickly and the service returned to normal.
Turkey restored full access to Twitter on Thursday morning as the death toll from the earthquake in Turkiye and neighboring Syria surpassed 17,000.
"President Tayyip Erdogan is losing his mind and as a result, the cries for help are falling on deaf ears. We know everything you are trying to hide," main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said after the block was imposed on Wednesday afternoon.
Last October, the Turkish parliament adopted a law under which journalists and social media users can be jailed for up to three years for spreading "disinformation".
