AfterDawn: Tech news

Turkey investigating insults, riot incitement on Twitter, Facebook

Written by James Delahunty @ 28 Jun 2013 7:42 User comments (4)

Turkey investigating insults, riot incitement on Twitter, Facebook Turkish authorities are cracking down on social network users who posted insults about officials, or incited riots using popular social networking services.
According to the Associated Press, Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Thursday that authorities were investigating people for allegedly insulting officials or using Twitter, Facebook and other services to fuel riots during the month of June.

Protests over government policies broke out in Turkey in June, unprecedented in size and hard to suppress. While the mainstream media in Turkey appeared unwilling (at least at first) to cover the unrest, possibly due to intimidation, social networks filled the void of information.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had referred to Twitter as a menace among other insults, saying it was being used to spread lies about the government.

Since then, Turkey reportedly asked Twitter to open a representative office in the country, reportedly to make gaining information on users easier. It seemed, at the time, to be condemning Twitter relative to Facebook, which there seemed to be suggestions of cooperation with.

Facebook however, took to its own website to set the record straight, saying it has not provided information on protesters to Turkish authorities and that it was concerned about talk of policy changes that would force Internet firms to hand over more data at the request of government authorities.

Tags: Turkey
Previous Next  

4 user comments

128.6.2013 10:41

Sure social media is a menace to people that think they can get away with anything just because of their positions. They are quickly learning that is no longer the case.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-ea...d-mayhem-spirit

228.6.2013 11:07

Well, duh? After all, they're invoking laws regarding "insulting the government", FFS; it's not like they're fooling anyone.

328.6.2013 11:15

Ladies and gentlemen, since we'll be arriving in Turkey soon, please set your watches to local time - 600 AD.

428.6.2013 14:04

The U.N. should investigate the Turkey Govt. for human rights abuses & using Tear-Gas as WMD inside establishments.
Or inside houses like the Bahrain Govt. do.
It goes against International Laws.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BM1RtJXCAAAYY6b.jpg
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BM07xPaCcAAHlEW.jpg
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BM0qczACAAAIerO.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/...360568925_n.jpg
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BM1K-NSCAAABRSv.jpg

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 28 Jun 2013 @ 2:45

Comments have been disabled for this article.

News archive