Turkish Media Accuse Twitter Of Interference In Internal Affairs Ahead Of Elections

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2023) Turkish newspaper Sabah on Friday accused Twitter messaging platform of supporting opposition forces in the country's upcoming general election scheduled for May 14 and creating accounts spreading provocative information about the incumbent government.

In November 2022, US billionaire and Twitter owner Elon Musk said that under the previous leadership, the network had interfered in elections across the world and, therefore, had not been trustworthy. Following Musk's statement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the West of double standards on media freedom, since it stayed silent in the face of Twitter's increased censorship.

The Sabah newspaper alleged that Twitter started to work for the Turkish opposition to help it win the upcoming elections.

Around 25% of provocative messages on Twitter come from "ant accounts" that also shared information about the alleged collapse of a dam during the recent devastating earthquakes, the news outlet reported.

Twitter users' timeline in Turkey displays messages of opposition politicians and journalists, as well as fugitive members of the organization of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen (FETO) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), both deemed terrorist by Turkey, while the page of Erdogan, who is the country's most popular figure, is never showed among "recommended" accounts, the report said.

Ankara has repeatedly restricted access to Twitter for a variety of reasons. In 2020, the platform was blocked on the territory of Turkey after the company refused to open its office in the country in accordance with the Turkish social media law. The authorities restored access only after Twitter opened the headquarters in March 2021. In January 2023, the head of communications in the Turkish presidential office, Fahrettin Altun, urged Musk to disclose information about Twitter's past interference in Turkey's domestic political affairs.