Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ordered the banning of Twitter in the country due to what he calls a ploy to prevent "character assassination" via the micro social network. This came to be after a wave of corruption investigation leaks via Twitter, though the banning of the social network has not gone down well with the public at large.
"Twitter has been used as a means to carry out systematic character assassinations by circulating illegally acquired recordings, fake and fabricated records of wiretapping," the prime minister's office said.
Apparently, folks on Twitter were posting recordings of Erdogan, government officials, and businessmen. These recordings have highlighted alleged corruption activity according to some, but there is no concrete evidence to prove such is the case.
Furthermore, it is understood that the Turkish government allowed the ban to commence after Twitter refused to remove the illegally acquired recordings, which were being posted on an almost daily basis.
"It is difficult to comprehend Twitter's indifference and its biased and prejudiced stance. We believe that this attitude is damaging to the brand image of the company in question and creates an unfair and inaccurate impression of our country," according to a statement from Erdogan's office.
This might not be the end of the Turkish government assault on social media websites and services. Apparently, the government as of now has no intention to ban YouTube or Facebook, but if leaked recordings or documents begin to turn up on those sources, things may change in a dramatic fashion.
Fixing the problem
Turkey and Twitter are now in talks to put an end to the issue. Things will only change though if Twitter agrees to block specific content whenever the Turkish government sends in its request.
"The talks are continuing in Ankara and the process is going positively. The biggest problem with Twitter until now has been the lack of contact and that has been resolved," according to a senior government official.
"As far as we are concerned, when the court rulings are implemented the problems will be resolved and the block on Twitter will be lifted," said the senior official.
Despite the ban of Twitter, many Turkish citizens were able to get around the block by using Google's DNS. However, at the time of this report, Google's DNS service is no longer working.
