With an important election looming, however, Erdoğan himself has fought back against the bad press. In a furious speech (reported by the Washington Post) he vowed to crack down on citizens who talk about the government’s relief efforts in a negative light, and dismissed their commentary as “fake news and distortions”.
Citizens are already feeling the effects of this authoritarian crackdown, with Turkish authorities making several arrests related to “provocative posts” about the earthquake. Authorities have also been accused of intentionally causing nationwide Twitter and TikTok outages in the aftermath of the disaster, despite the fact that the social media platforms could have contributed to the rescue effort and helped those affected connect with friends and family.
VIA Dazed