Turkish court orders closure of 1136 social media accounts on Interior Ministry order
Ankara – News Time
After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to shut down social media networks affecting the government’s credibility ahead of the upcoming local elections, a Turkish court has ordered the closure of 1136 social media accounts on the Interior Ministry’s order. These include websites, twitter, facebook, instagram, youtube and pinterest account. It is reported that audio recordings of Erdogan have been published on these media sites which allegedly indicate their corruption. Those condemning the move say that closed social media accounts criticized government policies regarding the rights of Kurds and minorities. And they were also publishing investigative reports about corruption, Iqbal Puri and money laundering by close supporters of President Erdogan.
However, Turkey’s telecom sector-monitoring body BTK says it received information from citizens this step has been taken as the aforementioned social media sites are interfering with their privacy. Leading newspapers such as Daily News, Departments Gazette, Itha, Hellkin and Sissy in closed accounts in addition to the journalists, Twitter accounts of the Kurdish Democratic Party of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) are also included. In Ankara, citizens are protesting against the ban on social media.
The opposition news website Bianet.org has also been shut down. The broadcasting agency broadcasts in three languages, including Kurdish. Farid Daimler, an editor at the firm, told Voice of America that there was no justification for closing these social media accounts. He says Bianet.org has always promoted freedom of expression and freedom of the press. And Turkey has been on the global list for media freedom for many years. Daimler added that nearly two million news and reports were blocked from the closure.
Journalists ‘Association of Journalists in Turkey (TGC), Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS), Journalists Without Out Borders and the Association of Contemporary Journalists (ACJ) has criticized the closure, saying that the decision negates media freedom. However, the hashtag #twitterisblockedinTurkey has become extremely popular and continues to trend at the top in response to this ban by Internet users in Turkey.
