Social media is threatened in Turkey

In the light of the financial crisis in Turkey, a clampdown on social media was instigated when the government embarked on investigations into the ‘manipulative stories on media and operational social media accounts’ that threaten ‘social peace, unity and economic security,’ clarified the Chief Prosecutor’s Office. Additionally, ‘a judicial investigation has been launched into 346 social media accounts who shared posts to provoke the rise in the dollar exchange rate’, reported Turkey’s Interior Ministry. Turkey’s Financial Crime Investigation Board (MASAK) is also investigating the fake news that aimed at manipulating the economy. Amid the state of emergency declared after the abortive coup, Twitter accounts of an array of pro-Gülen journalists and media outlets and pro-Kurdish media outlets among other advocates were further blocked by court order at the end of July.