Twitter and Turkey
If you have been living under a rock today, you might not know that Twitter has been blocked in Turkey.
There are a number of stories that are covering the why, but here are a few I think you should read: BBC, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.
I'm addressing this issue here, in part, because I can not join in with the Twitter outcry. I live in Turkey and as an American having any aspect of free speech limited makes me nervous. I picture things like Nazi Germany and the restrictions that started small but became massive. I'm not saying that Turkey is Nazi Germany... but it brings that type of irrational limitation of discussion to mind.
Erdogan, the prime minister, and Gul, the president, are at odds on the issue. Erdogan in my understanding is not a user of technology and has a certain amount of fear about it (perhaps because he is up to no good and he keeps getting caught out?). On the other side of the coin is Gul, who is an avid user of technology and instead of fearing that which he does not understand he has worked to develop is use of the tool for the good of his political party.
I just checked and Twitter is still blocked. The election is just days away, on March 30th, and I'm interested to see how all of this plays out. Similar to last year's Gezi Park protests, I hope to see an up-swelling of outrage from the center and liberal Turks as they consider the direction the country should go. What I don't hope for is violent protest that serves to unify the conservative religious movement or sway part of the middle to their side.
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| http://www.sampsoniaway.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Erdogan-and-Twitter.jpg |
There are a number of stories that are covering the why, but here are a few I think you should read: BBC, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.
I'm addressing this issue here, in part, because I can not join in with the Twitter outcry. I live in Turkey and as an American having any aspect of free speech limited makes me nervous. I picture things like Nazi Germany and the restrictions that started small but became massive. I'm not saying that Turkey is Nazi Germany... but it brings that type of irrational limitation of discussion to mind.
Erdogan, the prime minister, and Gul, the president, are at odds on the issue. Erdogan in my understanding is not a user of technology and has a certain amount of fear about it (perhaps because he is up to no good and he keeps getting caught out?). On the other side of the coin is Gul, who is an avid user of technology and instead of fearing that which he does not understand he has worked to develop is use of the tool for the good of his political party.
I just checked and Twitter is still blocked. The election is just days away, on March 30th, and I'm interested to see how all of this plays out. Similar to last year's Gezi Park protests, I hope to see an up-swelling of outrage from the center and liberal Turks as they consider the direction the country should go. What I don't hope for is violent protest that serves to unify the conservative religious movement or sway part of the middle to their side.
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