The U.S. is “deeply concerned” with Turkey’s attempt to block Twitter, and officials have relayed those concerns to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“The United States is deeply concerned that the Turkish government has blocked its citizens’ access to basic communication tools,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. “We oppose this restriction on the Turkish people’s access to information, which undermines their ability to exercise freedoms of expression and association and runs contrary to the principles of open governance that are critical to democratic governance and the universal rights that the United States stands for around the world.”
“We have conveyed our serious concern to the Turkish government, urge Turkish authorities to respect the freedom of the press by permitting the independent and unfettered operation of media of all kinds, and support the people of Turkey in their calls to restore full access to the blocked technologies,” he added.
The Turkish government’s attempt to block the social network appeared to backfire on Friday as many gained access to it through other methods.
Erdogan also lost his “verified” status with Twitter on Friday.
Hahaha @RT_Erdogan is no longer verified.
— Jillian C. York (@jilliancyork) March 21, 2014
Update:
Folks, @rt_erdogan was never verified so Twitter did not unverify. Seems the account is operated by his office, also. No original content.
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) March 21, 2014
