Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attempted ban on Twitter was a foolish mis-step
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s abrasive prime minister, made a fool of himself when he tried (and failed) to ban Twitter. Erdogan blames social media for helping to publicise leaked tapes allegedly linking him to a corruption scandal that has rocked his government. He has threatened similar action against YouTube and Facebook. “This thing called social media is currently the worst menace to society,” he declared last year during nationwide demonstrations against his increasingly authoritarian rule. Announcing his Twitter ban, he said: “The international community can say this, can say that. I don’t care at all.” In the event, Twitter use rose 138% in 24 hours as users easily circumvented his ban.
Ancient censorship mechanisms are no longer a problem for the young Turks who co-ordinate anti-government dissent
Thursday was Twitter’s eighth birthday. Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s birthday present to the social media giant, and to millions of Turks who use it daily, was to block the site. At about 11.20pm last night, those who wanted to use Twitter were greeted by a message from the Telecommunications Presidency referencing a court order that blocked access to it
The government?s action, prompted by posts accusing officials of corruption, was both derided and circumvented.Turkey has banned Twitter, but that hasn?t stopped many of the Turkish users of the site. Here we explain three ways they?re getting around the ban
Richard Wike: The numbers are in, and the people want their internet freedom ? no matter what Putin and Erdogan say
Recep Tayyip Erdogan s’en fiche pas mal de ce que pense la communauté internationale a-t-il déclaré mercredi dernier dans un meeting à Bursa, quelques heures avant de fairebloquer l’accès à Twitter dans son pays. Heureusement, car quand un chef de gouvernement fait brutalement bloquer complètement un média social comme Twitter, le monde entier l’apprend presque instantanément.
