Police probe 271 social media accounts over ‘foreign exchange’ posts

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The Directorate General of Security has announced that it has taken legal action against 271 social media accounts over their posts regarding the exchange rates, which have been currently on the increase.

The Directorate has said: 

In addition to the content provoking the public to hatred and hostility and calling on people to take to the streets to use force and violence by manipulating the volatility in the current exchange rates, 271 accounts considered to post manipulative messages and disinformation were examined and the necessary legal action has been taken against the identified persons.

What happened?

The depreciation of the Turkish Lira against foreign exchanges hit a record-high on November 23, 2021, when the exchange rate of the US dollar saw 13.48 Turkish Lira and Euro 15.16 lira during the day.

On the other hand, there were a series of allegations circulating among the public regarding the increase in exchange rates. In the face of this increase, several people rushed to the mobile apps of banks.

Several people, trying to exchange dollars and other foreign currencies, complained that the systems were slow and reported errors.

While all these setbacks as well as Turkish Lira's loss of value against other currencies became a trending topic on Twitter, users protested the economic crisis under the hashtags #hükümetistifa (government, resign) and #geçinemiyoruz (we cannot make a living). (TP/SD)