Turkish authorities blocked one of the most popular online forums Eksi Sozluk and fined several television stations over criticism of the response to the recent earthquakes.
Access to Eksi Solozuk, an online forum similar to Reddit, was restricted this week. Telecommunications watchdog BTK said the platform was blocked without providing a reason.
“The reasoning for the ban remains unknown to us, and we are trying to gather information from officials,” Eksi Sozluk’s board member Ilhan Tasci tweeted.
Twitter was also recently blocked following the earthquakes because of what authorities said was disinformation.
Turkey’s FOX TV, Tele 1, and Halk TV received fines of 3-5% of the previous months advertising revenues from the media watchdog the Turkish Radio Television Supreme Board. The television stations were punished for coverage critical of the government’s response to the earthquakes.
The Turkish government has been cracking down on what it calls “disinformation” about the earthquakes, which resulted in the deaths of over 42,000 people in Turkey and thousands in the neighboring Syria.
