So, who is source of the governmental leak in Turkey? Clearly a representative who has reasonable knowledge of Twitter – enough knowledge to publish secret recordings that could damage the government’s reputation ahead of local elections.”
According to an article by Kevin Rawlinson on theguardian.com, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been threatening the countrywide shutdown of both Facebook and YouTube when the threat of a leak was first revealed. Once Erodogan discovered that Twitter had the capacity for mobile updates, he shut down the site for all users in Turkey. A government shutdown did not, however, stop users from expressing their feelings on said shutdown; “Turkish Internet users were quick to come up with their own ways circumvent the block. The hashtag #TwitterisblockedinTurkey quickly moved among the top trending globally.” Rawlinson then compares the government in Turkey to that of North Korea or Iran – countries that may in the past be more likely to block any sites.
Do you think that users are savvy enough to “circumvent the block?” Is Twitter going to be the new up and coming protest format – are the days of picketing and carrying signs in the streets gone? Are users in Turkey perhaps not as savvy as users native to a country where a block would not take place – i.e. America? The 2012 Presidential Debates were live-tweeted by millions of users (no source necessary as I watched the live tweets take place). In a country like Turkey, or North Korea, perhaps such live-tweeting would not be allowed. What does the leak mean for the Turkish government, and for Erodogan?
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