Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Prime Minister blamed social media for enhancing anti government ideals within Turkish citizens. According to CNN.com, he threatened to place a ban on Twitter because of the spread of anti government thoughts being said across twitter at a campaign rally I'm the city of Bursa, hours later twitter users in Turkey were complaining of disruptions to their twitter pages.
Upset by the blockage of an outlet to voice their opinions users of the social network began using hashtags like #twitterisblockedinTurkey and #DictatorErdogan, which started to trend worldwide. They also began posting photos of Erdogan, one with a caption of "Yes we ban".
Although the Prime Minister's goal was to stop Turkey's citizens from speaking against him and the government this ban on twitter and the outrage surrounding it created a larger issue. The people of Turkey found ways to go around Erdogan's block, twitter itself had a hand in assisting.
"One cannot approve of the complete closure of social media platforms" was a message Abdullah Gul, Turkey's President, posted defying Prime Minister Erdogan's ban on twitter. Yet, citizens said these tweets were not to be taken seriously because the president approved Erdogan's law to ban the social network.
This blockage of Twitter has been looked at as a way for the government to stop the general public from knowing about what exactly is going on within the government. Also, there is a scandal going on within the government that officials such as the Prime Minister would like to keep from the public.
According to TheWeek.co.uk after someone posted links to recordings on twitter exposing corruption between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his colleagues the ban was imposed. One clip was said to contain audio of a man thought to be the Prime Minister telling his son to hide money from the police. It seems as though this ban has become a way for Turkish officials to keep their citizens in order. Unfortunately, for them the citizens instead have decided to stand up and fight against their government's decisions. Best of luck to the people of Turkey on their quest to finding out the truth.