This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/22/world/europe/turks-seek-to-challenge-twitter-ban.html

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Turkish Effort to Block Twitter Draws Protest In Turkey, Twitter Roars After Effort to Block It
(about 9 hours later)
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s government on Friday stood by an order to block Twitter, even as many users, including some high officials, found ways to circumvent and challenge it. ISTANBUL — It is a sign of the difficulty of banning Twitter in the age of Twitter that within hours of the Turkish government’s attempt to block the social media site, President Abdullah Gul was one of thousands of Turks who protested the ban — using Twitter.
“Blocking access was a court ruling, not a political decision,” said Lutfi Elvan, a government minister quoted by the semiofficial Anadolu News Agency hours after the ban was first noticed at around midnight. “Shutting down social media platforms cannot be approved,” Mr. Gul posted on Twitter on Friday, adding that “it is not technically possible to fully block access to globally active platforms like Twitter, anyway.”
“Turkey is not a country prohibiting the Internet,” the minister said, but added that “Twitter, YouTube and other social media networks have to abide by the law in Turkey.” While Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country of 79 million people, has long sought to portray itself as a model of democracy in a restive region, critics both inside and outside the country denounced the government’s ban as a “digital coup” more befitting China or North Korea. They, too, of course, did so over Twitter.
President Abdullah Gul was among ministers and government officials who bypassed the ban on Friday, using mobile devices and other methods to join a debate over the government’s measures. Echoing outrage from across the world, Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, wrote on Twitter that “The Twitter ban in #Turkey is groundless, pointless, cowardly. Turkish people and intl community will see this as censorship. It is.”
“Shutting down social media platforms cannot be approved,” Mr. Gul wrote on his Twitter account, adding that “it is not technically possible to fully block access to globally active platforms like Twitter, anyway.” At the very least, it seemed a clear attempt to shoot the digital messenger, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan grows increasingly frustrated with how social media networks like Twitter have been used to fan a scandal that now presents perhaps the biggest challenge to his authority since he came to power 11 years ago.
Since December, when a corruption investigation ensnared government officials and businessmen, including the son of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, social media networks including Twitter and YouTube have become critical alternatives to traditional media outlets. A barrage of leaks of dozens of phone calls and documents posted by unidentified critics has presented Mr. Erdogan with perhaps the biggest challenge in his 11 years in office. Since December, when a corruption investigation ensnared government officials and businessmen, including his son, critics of the prime minister who are often anonymous have used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to leak a barrage of phone calls and documents.
Some of the leaks related to efforts by Mr. Erdogan to control the media in Turkey, where, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 40 journalists were in jail in 2013. The prime minister was accused of making personal calls to media executives and seeking to have vocal critics fired. The government called the recordings fakes, although independent analysts said they were authentic. Some of the leaks were connected to efforts by Mr. Erdogan to control the media in Turkey, where, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 40 journalists were in jail in 2013. The prime minister was accused of making personal calls to media executives and seeking to have vocal critics fired. The government called most of the recordings fakes, although independent analysts said they were authentic.
One recording purported to be of the prime minister telling his son to get rid of large sums of cash on the morning of Dec. 17, when the homes of three former ministers’ sons were raided. Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly — and angrily — insisted that the recording was fake. One recording was said to be of the prime minister telling his son to get rid of large sums of cash on the morning of Dec. 17, when the homes of three former ministers’ sons were raided. Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly — and angrily — insisted that the recording was fake.
“It seems that there is some pivotal information that the government does not wish to spread over the Internet,” said Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. “Although such an effort sounds rational, it’s actually highly irrational when you consider it is impossible to stop social media networks. My son breached the ban in 15 seconds.” In the aftermath of a stream of leaks, Mr. Erdogan threatened to ban YouTube and Facebook, saying they were being used by supporters of a pro-Islamic rival group led by Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based cleric, to unfairly smear him.
The shutdown occurred 10 days before local elections and came after Mr. Erdogan lashed out at Twitter at an election rally in the western town of Bursa on Thursday, saying that he did not care about international reaction if national security was at stake. Finally fed up, Mr. Erdogan tried to shut Twitter down on Thursday — 10 days before important local elections — after lashing out at the social network at a rally in the western town of Bursa, saying that he did not care about international reaction if national security was at stake.
Government officials have also sought to justify the attempted blockage by saying Twitter had been used to invade privacy. The Turkish telecommunications authority said on Friday that the site had been blocked after citizens complained that their privacy had been breached. After Twitter refused to remove some messages, the authority said, “there was no other choice.” “Twitter, mwitter!” (the rough equivalent of “Twitter, schmitter!”) Mr. Erdogan said. “We will root out all. They say, ‘Sir, the international community can say this, can say that.’ I don’t care at all. Everyone will see how powerful the state of the Republic of Turkey is.”
“Access to Twitter was blocked in line with court decisions to avoid the possible future victimization of citizens,” it said. Nonetheless, the ban appeared to backfire, fomenting a loud and raucous backlash on Twitter, with the hashtags #TwitterisblockedinTurkey, #occupytwitter, #turkeyblockedtwitter, and #dictatorerdogan quickly becoming popular trending topics globally.
Several opposition groups threatened legal challenges. The Turkish Bar Association took the matter to court on Friday, saying the blockage was unconstitutional and was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to Twitturk, which records the statistics of Turkey’s roughly 12 million Twitter users, more than half a million tweets were posted in just 10 hours, despite the ban. Statista, a New York-based statistics portal, lists Turkey as the fourth-largest Twitter community in the world after the United States, Britain and Japan.
Speaking on television, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Ali Babacan, said he did not “think this will last too long,” Reuters reported. One posting circulated featuring a flock of Twitter’s blue birds pounding Mr. Erdogan’s head with bird excrement. Another superimposed the prime minister’s face on a campaign poster of President Obama, with the slogan, “Yes we ban.”
“A mutual solution needs to be found,” he said. Mr. Erdogan’s suspicion of the social media became acute last summer when tens of thousands of Turks used the networks to organize street protests of plans to raze Gezi Park in Istanbul. The protests became a powerful symbol of the conflict between what many Turks view as Mr. Erdogan’s creeping authoritarianism and a young urban middle class seeking greater social freedoms.
Echoing other protests outside Turkey, a senior European Union official, Stefan Fule, said he was “gravely concerned” by the blockage the Turkish authorities have sought to justify by saying Twitter had been used to violate personal privacy. “Being free to communicate and freely choose the means to do it is fundamental EU value,” Mr. Fule said on Twitter. Mr. Fule is the union’s commissioner for enlargement. The social media networks have only grown more popular since then as the government tried to silence traditional media outlets critical of Mr. Erdogan. New Internet restrictions, adopted by the government in February, allowed for the swift closing of websites or removal of content by court order.
Social media networks in Turkey have grown more popular since antigovernment demonstrations last summer, when traditional media organizations were silenced under government pressure and journalists critical of Mr. Erdogan were fired or forced to resign. New Internet restrictions, adopted by the government in February, allowed for the swift closing of websites or removal of content by court order. The Twitter ban was the latest step, though hundreds of thousands of Turks had been able to circumvent the ban by using text messaging service. Messages posted on Friday rejoiced in creative means of sharing information offline about how Turks can alter Domain Name System settings on their devices to allow them to circumvent the ban. Others had disguised the location of their computers by using programs that redirect traffic to servers outside of Turkey.
Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Twitter, said the company was “looking into” the ban, adding, “That’s all we have for the moment.” In Twitter messages, the company urged people to use mobile connections to get back on the service. “It seems that there is some pivotal information that the government does not wish to spread over the Internet,” said Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. “It’s actually highly irrational when you consider it is impossible to stop social media networks. My son breached the ban in 15 seconds.”
In a statement on Thursday night, the United States State Department expressed concern over “any suggestion that social media sites could be shut down.” Government officials have also sought to justify the attempted blocking by saying that Twitter had been used to invade privacy. The Turkish telecommunications authority said on Friday that the site had been blocked after citizens complained that their privacy had been breached. After Twitter refused to remove some content, the authority said, “there was no other choice.”
The British Foreign Office said, “We have long supported Turkey’s accession” to the European Union. Several opposition groups threatened legal challenges. The Turkish Bar Association took the matter to court on Friday, saying the blocking was unconstitutional and was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“As a candidate country,” it said, “it is important for Turkey to promote the E.U.'s core values of freedom of expression, democracy and the rule of law.” “We stand with our users in Turkey who rely on Twitter as a vital communications platform,” Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Twitter, said in a Twitter message on Friday. “We hope to have full access return soon.”
In earlier Twitter messages, the company urged people to use mobile connections to get back on the service.
In a statement on Friday, the United States State Department said “today’s shutdown of Twitter is contrary to Turkey’s own expressed desire to uphold the highest standards of democracy,” and urged the government to ensure that citizens had free access to all social media platforms.
At the Buster Internet cafe in Istanbul, a student, Engin Alturk, said the prohibition had only encouraged people to post more messages. “We lived without YouTube for a year; we know all the tricks to get around this,” he added. “Erdogan must think us stupid.”