'Twitter schmitter': Turkey's ban on Twitter sparks international outrage
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's decision to restrict the country's access to Twitter sparked charges of censorship and immediate international backlash for restricting free speech. Erdoğan is in the midst of dealing with a corruption scandal in which wiretapped recordings were leaked via the social network. He said the leak damaged his reputation days before local elections.
Declaring it "Twitter schmitter" and vowing to "root out" the website, Erdoğan said he didn't care what the world thought about his decision. "The international community can say this, can say that... Everyone will see how powerful the Republic of Turkey is," he said. Turkish courts blocked Twitter early Friday, claiming the San Francisco-based website ignored requests to remove "illegal links."
A Twitter spokesman said it was investigating the reports of its blockage. The hashtags #TurkeyBlockedTwitter and #ErgodanBlocksTwitter blew up on the social network overnight in solidarity with the country's citizens who are angry about the restriction. A depiction of Ergodan's face placed on Twitter's logo is also being circulated. --Jordan Valinsky
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published