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Turkey has censored more than 100 tweets in the past week

Turkey has censored more than 100 tweets in the past week

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More than a month after Turkey lifted its Twitter block, the country's government is still keeping a close eye on any potentially embarrassing tweets. This week alone, Turkish courts have filed five separate takedown motions to Twitter HQ, requesting the removal of over a hundred tweets. Most of the tweets are still available to US users, but it seems likely that Twitter has blocked them for users registered within Turkey, in accordance with its policy of compliance with local laws and court orders. Twitter declined to comment on the matter.

"Lufti Elvan, please fuck off"

Most of the tweets are not explicitly political or revolutionary in tone, although many call out the country's Twitter ban, and name Turkish communications minister Lufti Elvan as the party at fault. This tweet is a particularly vivid example, opening with "Ya lutfi elvan bi siktir git," which translates roughly to "Lufti Elvan, please fuck off."

Court orders like this have persisted since Twitter was unblocked in Turkey. As soon as the block was lifted, Twitter received an order to ban four different whistleblowing accounts within the country's borders, although the ban was relatively easy to circumvent. At the time, the order was seen as the price of unblocking Twitter on the Turkish internet. But as the blocks persist, provoking more and more hostility from users, it seems the Turkish government's Twitter troubles are alive and well.