Still tweeting in Turkey

neurope.eu

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan learned a lesson this weekend about the power of social media when his attempt to shut down Twitter backfired. Erdogan was trying to curb the proliferation of tweets from Turkish citizens that linked to incriminating material pointing to government corruption.Turkey is a top-10 country in number of active Twitter users, and the website has been integral in organizing protests and demonstrations in the past. 

But just hours after Erdogan followed through on his threat to "rip the roots out" from Twitter, skilled hackers had already found a way to circumvent the ban, tweeting out instructions for others to regain access to the website. Hours after Twitter was shut down, the hashtag #TwitterisblockedinTurkey was trending worldwide. The prime minister's attempt to exert government superiority only revealed the power of the masses and social media.

Another apparent triumph for social media occurred recently in Ukraine, as citizens ignored government intimidation such as text messages that said, "Dear user, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance" and continued to support the overthrow of Ukraine's authoritarian government on Twitter.

Journalism has long acted as a watchdog on government, but now social media provides everyday citizens the opportunity to be watchdogs. One government misstep can become widespread news at the hands of social media users. For authoritarian governments attempting to filter their citizens' access to information, Twitter is their worst nightmare. It is totally free from government control and capable of instantly unifying the masses around a cause.

 As a writer for the Wall Street Journal puts it, "every leader—from Putin to Obama—now has to contend with the instant awareness of his actions." Twitter makes government leaders accountable and forces them to pay attention to the things their citizens are saying. As Erdogan learned, trying to stifle online dissent only strengthens the dissenters, to whom Twitter is an important outlet to express their beliefs.

Turkey, who is currently trying to join the European Union, just sent the world a very discouraging message about its commitment to democratic ideals. Open access to information and the freedom to express beliefs are key components of democracy that are furthered by platforms like Twitter. Try to take this away from people, and they'll just tweet louder.