Twitter down in Turkey

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Twitter is now offline in Turkey. The step was not approved by all leaders in Turkey. President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Erdogan have been engaged in a rather open debate today - Erdogan defending the ban while Gül continued to tweet during the day, showing his disapproval of the ban. The case depicts once again that these platforms are now used as a proxy during political discourse - rather than a mere communication tool. Politicians can use services such as Facebook or Twitter to argue for freedom of speech or portray them as a source of instability. Arguing for Twitter will get votes from a more liberal constituency, whereas arguing against will often increase support from advocats of the ruling party. Communication platforms are not merely simple mediums of communication any more. They are now themselves used as a tool to form political opinion or justify decisions.


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