Twitter is guiding its 12 million users from Turkey to send tweets via SMS to circumvent the ban on its service in the country.
Twitter users in Turkey are unable to access the micro-blogging site across the country, instead they get redirected to a web page with a statement from Turkey's telecommunications regulator, TIB. The ban on Twitter follows the country's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threat to block access to the social media network after revelations of alleged corruption involving Erdogan started appearing on Twitter.
Twitter, the popular social media site used across the globe, is not giving up on its 12 million Turkish users so easily. Twitter's @policy account sent a tweet, Friday, addressing the Turkish users in both local and English language on how to work their way around the reported ban.
Turkish users: you can send Tweets using SMS. Avea and Vodafone text START to 2444. Turkcell text START to 2555.
- Policy (@policy) March 20, 2014
With Twitter's SMS-based alternative for sending tweets, the social media service is taking Turkish users back to its initial days when it was launched as a text message-based network.
When users try opening Twitter's website through an internet browser, a statement with four court orders appears on the landing page, according to Reuters. The ban on the site comes after Erdogan's speech late on Thursday, addressing thousands of supporters at a rally ahead of March 30 elections.
"We will wipe out all of these," Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying during his speech at the rally. "The international community can say this, can say that. I don't care at all. Everyone will see how powerful the Republic of Turkey is."
According to a statement from the PM's office, Erdogan's threat to ban the service nationwide was due to Twitter's failure to implement court orders seeking removal of certain links. "If Twitter officials insist on not implementing court orders and rules of law ... there will be no other option but to prevent access to Twitter to help satisfy our citizens' grievances," the statement said.
Twitter's ban follows a string of clashes between Turkey and social media services including Facebook and YouTube. In an earlier interview with a local broadcaster ATV, Erdogan said that Facebook and YouTube will be banned across the country after local elections.
The social media sites played a vital role in leaking audio recordings in which Erdogan claims to have no connections with the corrupt and blames enemies for fabricating false evidence against him.
