Turkey’s independent media protesting Google over algorithm changes

The recent closure of Gazete Duvar triggered a new series of criticisms towards Google’s search engine algorithm changes. Below is a curation of news on this topic ending with a comparative angle with other countries. My approach to Google has turned relatively sour recently, but I still don’t believe the platform itself is the only … Read more

Check out Türkiye’s first Digital Print Library!

As Turkey’s first Digital Print Library, the mission of Gravur Dunyasi Digital Print Library is to provide a comprehensive cultural service by creating a visual database which preserves cultural heritage, primarily those related to our geography, through archiving, documenting and labelling all of the prints available in the Library both in Turkish and English. ​For … Read more

In the aftermath of Meta’s decision; a letter from Teyit.org to followers

A leading Turkish fact-checking organization, Teyit, sent a letter to followers signed by its founder, Mehmet Atakan Foça. Translated by DeepL Dear Erkan In the Age of Pinocchios, it is getting harder and harder to access accurate information. Information that is polluted, distorted, hollowed out and turned into a partisan tool for political and economic … Read more

A Global Voices Report: Artificial Intelligence Narratives

This report is part of Data Narratives, a Civic Media Observatory project that aims to identify and understand the discourse on data used for governance, control, and policy in El Salvador, Brazil, Turkey, Sudan, and India. Read more about the project here and see our public dataset. Access the Artificial Intelligence Narratives report in PDF  Turkey In Turkey, hype … Read more

A special video at SosyalKafa. “The Story of Espressolab with Esat Kocadağ”

The video is in Turkish, but here are key timestamps linked to significant moments in the video: 00:00:01 – Introduction to Esat Kocadağ and the Origin of Espressolab 00:00:32 – Esat’s Early Journey and Connection to Coffee 00:01:35 – Opening the First Espressolab Store 00:04:30 – Transition from Hobby to Business Expansion 00:06:20 – International … Read more

All-knowing Turkish authorities banned Discord

Since fixing social decline is harder, they chose the easiest option. They could not stop leaking the data they collected from citizens. Censorship! Now i will have to find a new venue for my classes’ communications and use VPN to reach many AI companies’ servers there. Yes, Turkey has banned access to Discord[1][2][3]. The ban … Read more

Turkish officials admitted that a massive data breach occurred…

Turkey has admitted that a massive data breach occurred, exposing the personal information of millions of citizens. Here are the key details: Scale of the Data Breach Personal data of 108 million Turkish citizens was stolen[1][2][3]. The stolen data included identity numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and other sensitive information[1][2]. Specifically, the breach exposed: 108,571,832 … Read more

Instagram is banned in Türkiye/ Turkey:(

While enjoying my first days in Detroit, I heard that Instagram is banned. Meta should be in a dilemma. It happened before; it will happen again. Some countries label some organizations as terrorists, some not. The platform has to make decisions… Here is the story: Turkey has blocked access to Instagram following a controversy over … Read more

Whattpad now banned in Türkiye

Whattpad is one of the platforms I never used. But I know it is especially popular with some segments of society. Lack of clear reasoning adds salt to the insult—another shameful act. Wattpad has been banned in Turkey. Here are the key details about this ban: Timing and Authority: The ban was implemented on July … Read more

Academic Informatics Conferences resumed and I was glad to be part it

Academic Informatics conferences were led by “the father of Turkish Internet,” Mustafa Akgül.  After his death in 2017, the annual conferences stopped after 2019. I was happy to hear that the meetings would start again. A few days ago, I participated in one of the AI and Social Life panels at Istanbul University. Here is … Read more

Turkiye grasping the age of AI rapidly: Turkish intelligence nabs man who cloned Erdoğan’s voice

MİT nabs man who cloned Erdoğan’s voice with AI for fraud  (MİT) has caught an individual attempting to defraud businesspeople and high-level public officials by mimicking President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s voice using artificial intelligence. Following the information acquired by MİT regarding an individual’s attempt to exploit an AI application to clone Erdoğan’s voice for personal gain, an investigation … Read more

After Elon Musk’s latest interventions we have discussed Twitter Alternatives

Summarized by Merlin App: Friends discuss social media addiction, Twitter’s place in history, and screen sharing. Barış has been on social media fast. 00:00 Twitter’s future is uncertain due to data privacy concerns and recent changes in leadership. 07:18 Twitter’s business model is transforming towards monetization. 14:58 Decentralized social media platform using Activity protocol 21:32 … Read more

It is the anniversary of Sivas Massacre and there is a digital archive now to memoralize the victims

A tribute to the victims. Here is the archive.   The Sivas massacre, also known as the Madimak massacre, refers to the events of July 2, 1993, at the Hotel Madimak in Sivas, Turkey[1]. The victims, who had gathered in the hotel for the Pir Sultan Abdal festival, were mostly Alevi intellectuals, and 37 people … Read more

OnlyFans banned in Turkey

Well, I wonder why they were late to ban. Turkey bans OnlyFans following court order Click to read the article in Turkish The popular adult content platform OnlyFans  has been banned in Turkey after a ruling by İstanbul’s 1st Penal Judgeship of Peace. The court decision, issued on June 7, ordered the blocking of access to the website, … Read more

Quoted in Wired: “Deepfakes, Cheapfakes, and Twitter Censorship Mar Turkey’s Elections”

Erkan Saka, professor of journalism and media studies at Istanbul Bilgi University, says the power of trolls may be overstated. The mainstream press reaches a larger audience, and much of it is friendly to the president. “The whole media establishment is in fact using disinformation,” Saka says. The full text here   Adam Tooze: Why … Read more