Turkey bans Twitter before elections: A look at Twitter's controversial journey so far
After documents pertaining to corruption were released on Twitter, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a complete ban on Twitter from his official account. We look at the journey so far and how many countries across the world have banned Twitter.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday announced a complete ban on social media platform Twitter ahead of the elections. Earlier there were reports that the country would take this stand after international communities scoured Twitter for information and reportage.
Erdogan announced that Twitter was now disabled in the country. “We’ll eradicate Twitter,” he said.
“I don’t care what the international community says. Everyone will witness the power of the Turkish Republic,” he was quoted as saying by Forbes.
When the Gezi park protests broke out in 2013, the Turkish media muzzled the affair and international community had to get updates from Twitter. In retaliation, the Turkish government arrested citizens for allegedly spreading, 'false information'.
In a second instance, the famed pianist Fazil Say was charged for insulting religious values on Twitter by Turkish government which he claimed to be a 'mere joke'.
These turn of events came after audio recordings and documents related to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were posted on social media platforms including Twitter.
Users have protested against this ban on 'freedom of speech' by posting banners, posters and messages against the Turkish government's muzzling of public voice against its wrong-doings.
Many expect more explosive revelations to be made via Twitter in the week running up to local elections on 30 March.
Two weeks ago Erdogan threatened to ban both Facebook and Twitter, accusing social media users of abusing these platforms for a "smear campaign" against his government as reported by Guardian.
The hashtag #TwitterIsBlockedInTurkey has been trending for a while as dozens of artists and activists join the protest.
The backdrop for this ban can also be traced back to an incident when a radio broadcaster was fired for commemorating 15-year-old boy Berkin Elvan's death who was fatally shot by a police teargas canister in 2013.
The broadcaster Arzu Çaglan, organizer and broadcaster of the program “Arzu’nun Inleyen Nagmeleri” for 21 years was fired from her job.
She shared following messages on her Twitter account:
“My program which filled its 21st year on 5 February was banned due to my broadcasting. I’m proud…Ask other people, I was leading the most widely-listened program of Best FM.”
“I have neither RTÃœK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) program content penalty nor sentence. It is totally an arbitrary decision.”“[Radio owners] are telling people that “I left voluntarily”. What a shame!
Meanwhile, Twitter users have been able to send out tweets using text messaging services. Twitter has relationships with carriers in many countries, including four in Turkey, that have provided Twitter with short codes that allow users to send tweets as per a report by WSJ.
Users type in the code – either 2444 or 2555 in Turkey to signal the start of a tweet. The website then matches the sender’s phone number with their Twitter account. It makes for a handy back up plan when other methods may be compromised. Users receive all the texts sent by accounts they follow.
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