Turkey’s Twitter Ban Sparks Angry Reaction all around the World

Turkey’s block of social media site Twitter on Thursday, and threats to do the same against other sites, has led to outrage among those who see the “digital coup” as a blatant attempt to silence corruption allegations in the run-up to local elections.

According to Tasnim News Agency, sources told The Wall Street Journal that the Turkish government’s court-ordered block of Twitter has been denounced by many as an attempt to quell allegations of official misdeeds. But the government’s threats have not stopped with Twitter; Google has reportedly declined Turkey’s request to remove YouTube videos that allege government corruption.

Amid a corruption scandal, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s government has asked Google in recent weeks to block certain videos from its site in Turkey. Google has reportedly refused to comply, given it believes the requests are legally invalid.

After blocking Twitter, the government threatened to do the same with YouTube and Facebook, as the sites have been prime conduits for corruption allegations.

Sources said Google sensed that a threat to its services could be imminent after the Twitter block, though as of late Friday, YouTube was still online in Turkey.