Turkey blocks access to social media networks

Turkey has blocked access to several social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, according to an internet monitoring group in the country.

Beginning Friday at around 1.20 a.m. local time, access was restricted for WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, TurkeyBlocks said. This was done by domestic internet service providers “throttling” – or slowing down – connection to these sites.

It’s not the first time these services have been blocked by Turkey and it often happens when the government looks to suppress media coverage or wide-spread discussion of topics.

The latest round of crackdowns appears to have been sparked by arrests on the opposition party. Overnight, 11 politicians from the pro-Kurdish group the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), were detained because of their reluctance to give testimonies for crimes linked to “terrorist propaganda”, according to Reuters.

“Restrictions on messaging service WhatsApp and Instagram have also now been detected, validating widespread user complaints about WhatsApp service failure in Turkey – the first time nationwide restrictions have been detected on the popular messaging app in recent years,” TurkeyBlocks said in a blog post on Friday.

Last month, the internet group reported a internet shutdown in the southeast of Turkey.

Source: CNBC