Twenty-nine people arrested over 'earthquake' posts on social media
Photo: AA
Click to read the article in Turkish
The number of arrests related to "provocative" social media posts about last month's powerful earthquakes has risen to 29, the police announced today (March 2).
The police identified 1,063 account users and took legal action against 609 of them, according to the statement.
Among the 150 people who were detained, courts arrested 29, it said.
Also, 81 phishing websites created under the guise of earthquake relief were banned and "the necessary action was taken" against 15 social media accounts that attempted to collect many, said the police.
Amid an intense public debate over the quakes, the authorities restricted access to Twitter for nearly an entire day last month.
Over the past decade, the government frequently resorted to social media restrictions at times of crisis, such as bomb attacks or natural disasters.
The earthquakesOn February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later. The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts, where over 5,000 people have died. Türkiye's death toll from the quakes stands at over 45,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures. Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes. |
(ME/VK)