After the earthquake disaster in Turkey, access to Twitter from users in this country was blocked.
Specifically, many Twitter users in this country were unable to post tweets regarding the earthquake that occurred earlier this week.
Restrictions on social media in the country have sparked criticism over the government’s response to the disaster that has killed more than 17,000 people.
On February 9, the Turkish Government had a discussion with Twitter to restore access to this social network.
Twitter boss Elon Musk tweeted on his own social networking site on the morning of February 9: “Twitter has been informed by the Turkish government that access will be reactivated soon.”
Blocking access can affect rescue operations
After a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the country on Monday, Turkish social networks were flooded with messages from people complaining regarding the slow rollout of emergency services.
Turkish people also use Twitter to publish information regarding loved ones they cannot contact, report collapsed buildings and call for aid coordination.
Turkey’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister Ömer Fatih Sayan said in a tweet on Thursday, following speaking with two senior Twitter executives, John Hughes and Ronan Costello: “We remind ourselves of our responsibilities. their responsibility to our country following this disaster.”
At the same time, he also put his hopes on this social network cooperation with the Government in the fight once morest misinformation, while the rescue and aid work for the victims of the earthquake continues.
“Our request is very clear, false information can harm public order and security,” he stressed.
Netblocks.org believes that filtering tweets from users can affect the rescue activities of victims.
However, for a limited time, access to Twitter is still possible through VPN (hidden user’s location) accounts. Turkish police have arrested dozens of people since the earthquake, for social media posts critical of the Turkish government’s handling of the disaster.
Currently, President Erdogan is under heavy pressure following the earthquake disaster. The country is also preparing for the presidential election scheduled to take place on May 14.
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