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Tag: Turkey Twitter ban

  • YouTube Ban in Turkey Days Before Elections

    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan blocked the use of YouTube in the country on Thursday, just three days before local elections are to take place, and just one week after measures were taken against the use of Twitter in Turkey.

    The Turkish government appears to have blocked the video-sharing site after a recording was posted on YouTube that reportedly showed government officials discussing potentially taking military action in Syria.

    The TIB, the Turkish telecoms authority, said it had taken an “administrative measure” to block the site, but some in Turkey are still able to access it.

    In its statement, the TIB said: “After technical analysis and legal consideration…. an administrative measure has been taken for this website.”

    The search engine Google, which owns YouTube, confirmed that some users were unable to access YouTube in Turkey.

    “There is no technical issue on our side and we’re looking into the situation,” a Google Inc. spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

    Erdogan faces an important election Sunday, and accused social media of spreading misinformation. The Prime Minister suggested earlier that bans could be applied to both YouTube and Facebook.

    Measures to ban YouTube occurred Thursday, despite a court ruling Wednesday in which a Turkish court ordered the country lift the ban on Twitter that was imposed last week.

    The Turkey Bar Association challenged the government ban of Twitter Monday, and on Wednesday, a court in Ankara ordered that TIB lift the ban. The Turkish deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said of the ruling:

    “We abide by the court rulings, that’s what the constitution orders. We may not like them, but we abide by them. If this decision is genuine…then what TIB needs to do is obvious.”

    Arinc asked the TIB to abide by the court order and lift the ban on Twitter, but it could take weeks to take effect.

    It was not immediately clear whether the YouTube leak was genuine.

    At a rally in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir on Thursday, Erdogan allegedly confirmed that the latest audio leak was genuine.

    “They even leaked a national security meeting,” Erdogan said.

    “This is villainous, this is dishonesty… Who are you serving by doing audio surveillance of such an important meeting?” he continued.

    Following reports of the block on YouTube in Turkey Thursday morning, the term #youtubeblockedinturkey began trending worldwide on Twitter by Thursday afternoon.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Twitter Ban Struck Down By Turkish Court

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the world would “witness the power of the Turkish Republic.”

    Now it is Erdogan who is witnessing the power of the Turkish court system.

    On Wednesday, a Turkish court ordered the lifting of the Twitter ban imposed last week. Erdogan pushed for the social media ban following the spread of recordings that many consider valid evidence of the prime minister’s corrupt behaviors.

    Turkey had moved to strengthen the block in recent days as millions found ways around the initial ban.

    The Twitter ban is expected to be lifted for all citizens shortly.

    Erdogan has been at war with websites and social media for months now, recently doubling down on his efforts with blocking Twitter.

    Despite claims to the contrary, it is clear to onlookers Erdogan is desperate to stop the spread of damning video and audio that shows him interfering with businesses, court cases, etc.

    Rather than face the music or work out some kind of refuting evidence, Erdogan thought he could simply silence citizens by cutting off access to social media.

    As the Turkish prime minister and his cohorts are learning, the internet doesn’t work that way and neither does the court system.

    Erdogan’s government has been vehemently protested for its corruption and attempts to suppress the freedoms of Turkish citizens.

    With elections approaching, it may be possible that the accusations spreading quickly around the world may factor into Erdogan’s future as prime minister. This would explain his actions towards social media despite embracing other technologies.

    However, nothing can justify a politician trying to hinder the internet access of millions of people in an effort to not look bad.

    Erdogan now looks bad on a global scale…and much of it is his own doing.

    What’s next for Erdogan with the court overturning the Twitter ban? He may try and find another way to make it happen yet again.

    Unless of course he decides to make Instagram the next target of his rage.

    Image via YouTube

  • Twitter Ban In Turkey: What Was The True Goal?

    “We’ll eradicate Twitter,” declared Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I don’t care what the international community says. Everyone will witness the power of the Turkish Republic.”

    Then on Thursday at around midnight, Turkish citizens found that Twitter had been banned.

    Where did this sudden need to “eliminate” Twitter actually come from?

    It seems that Erdogan, who is otherwise supportive of new technologies, became adamantly opposed to social media sites like Twitter when they were used by the public to accuse him of political corruption.

    For instance, recordings were spread on the internet two weeks ago which allegedly featured Erdogan telling his son to dispose of large sums of money. Erdogan was described as enraged and no doubt that was the final straw for the embattled politician.

    As accusations against Erdogan are heavily featured on Twitter, it seems unsurprising in retrospect that Erdogan would take some sort of action. Especially since the site is a powerful organizational tool for those seeking to protest the government.

    What Erdogan failed to anticipate was the lengths that many would go to in order to get around the ban. Even now the Turkish government is working hard to crack down on the access that many have to Twitter. Though the IP-level ban has been successful at slowing access to Twitter, it has not made access impossible.

    Though Erdogan claimed he does not care what the international community thinks of his actions, with the elections nearing he should care about what the people of Turkey think.

    He should also be concerned that the increasingly secular Turkish public has not been happy about the direction of the government in recent years. Particularly the attempts to crack down on freedom of speech and information.

    By his very actions Erdogan has done nothing more than shine a bright light on himself and made the world that much more interested in himself and whether or not the various accusations of corruption are true.

    Erdogan thought he could force everyone to stop talking about him. Now, he’s a matter of global discussion and if there is valid proof of corruption, it will be readily shared on a global scale.

    The truth of the matter is that the Turkish Republic simply does not have the ability to stop the internet from making Erdogan look bad.

    The only thing the bitter prime minster has accomplished with his behavior is making Twitter more popular in Turkey than ever. In other words, if his goal was anything other than an epic backlash, Erdogan failed miserably.

    Image via YouTube