Gauck has questions on Turkish democracy

Visiting German President Joachim Gauck’s strong criticisms against the Turkish government’s recent moves to block Twitter and YouTube and its increasing control over the judiciary has not gone unanswered by his host, Abdullah Gül, who recalled the killings of immigrants in Germany at the hands of extreme rightist groups.

“Friends may be able to tell each other about unpleasant things that the other does not want to hear. We are not asking questions that have never been asked,” Gauck said at a joint press conference with Gül on April 28 as part of a four-day official trip to Turkey.

Turkey: Twitter agrees to close some accounts. - YouTube remains blocked in Turkey.

Twitter will close some accounts in Turkey but will not for now set up an office there as the government wants, a senior Turkish official said late on Monday after talks over a dispute which saw the government ban the site for two weeks.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government blocked Twitter and YouTube in March, drawing international condemnation, after audio recordings, purportedly showing corruption in his inner circle, were leaked on their sites.

Cuba says US created other 'Cuban Twitter' projects

HAVANA - Cuba said on Sunday the United States continues to use social media to "subvert" the island's government and that the revelation this week of a US-created, Twitter-like service for Cuba was just one of several examples.
The US government has admitted it created a social media network called ZunZuneo, which takes its name from Cuban slang for the tweet of a hummingbird. It was revealed in a report by the Associated Press, which said ZunZuneo snared cell phone users to build a network whose goals included mobilizing demonstrations.

EE.UU. y Reino Unido usan plataformas sociales para desacreditar a gobiernos

Según las nuevas filtraciones de Snowden, los servicios de inteligencia de EE.UU. y Reino Unido planearon usar plataformas sociales como Twitter, YouTube y Facebook para distribuir desinformación y propaganda y asimismo provocar protestas.

Ya se sabía que los analistas británicos consultaron a la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional en el año 2012 para vigilar Facebook, Twitter y YouTube y recopilar las direcciones de ordenadores de millones de usuarios. Pero pocos saben cuándo nació esta idea.

U.S. urges Ankara to unblock YouTube, too

The United States has welcomed the implementation of the Constitutional Court decision ordering to unblock the access to Twitter and urged the Turkish government to open YouTube as well for the Turkish citizens.

“We welcome the decision, and support the freedom of expression in Turkey. We also know that the Turkish government implemented the ruling yesterday to unblock the Twitter,” said U.S. Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf during the daily press briefing on April 4.

US Representatives introduce resolution against Turkey’s ban on Twitter and Youtube

The U.S. Congress resolutions condemning Turkey have been increasing recently with Turkey’s ban on social websites Twitter and YouTube.

Four members of the U.S. House of the Representatives on April 1 prepared a resolution calling on Turkey to remove the bans on the social media, following a condemnation from two U.S. Senators last month over blocking the social media sites and a complaint letter sent to President Barrack Obama.

Turkey begins espionage investigation after Syria leak

ANKARA - Turkey has started an espionage investigation after a discussion between top officials on potential military action in Syria was leaked on YouTube, heralding a possible government crackdown on its political opponents after elections on Sunday.
The recording of the meeting between Turkey's intelligence chief, foreign minister and deputy head of the military was by far the most serious breach in weeks of highly sensitive leaks, a scandal which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has cast as a plot to sabotage the state and topple him.

US, EU officials react to Turkey's YouTube ban

Officials from the United States and the European Union have reacted to the Turkish government's move to block access to YouTube, hours after leaked recordings of a key security meeting were published on the video sharing website.

Marie Harf, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson, has answered a question on the issue during the press briefing March 27. Harf repeated that Washington is against any violation of free speech and calls Ankara to unblock access to YouTube, as well as Twitter.

Spying on key security meeting on Syria is "declaration of war" -Turkish FM, Ahmet Davutoğlu

Recording a top level security meeting and leaking it onto the Internet is tantamount to declaring war on Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said.

“Wiretapping our prime minister, ministers and top officials is an open declaration of war against the Turkish Republic,” Davutoğlu told reporters March 27. “Taking the necessary precautions is the state’s duty.”

His remarks came hours after an illegal recording of a secret security meeting held at the Foreign Ministry was published on YouTube.