Turkey declares war on social media
Turkey declares social media warfare!!!
Turkey has been in the front pages of all the newspapers for its treatment of social media over the past couple of weeks. The Turkish state is certainly not stepping down against the mass public and they have started hijacking net addresses as it steps up its attempts to block social networking access.
The addresses that have been hijacked belong to Google, Level 3 and OpenDNS, and they were all compromised under the authority of the Turkish government. This means that people using such addresses are no longer able to connect to Twitter or YouTube.
Many Net monitoring companies have expressed their concern at the Turkish government’s actions, and described that the state could now log who was trying to get around its restrictions.
They previously blocked access to Twitter and YouTube by getting ISPs to stop their domain name servers directing traffic to the sites. The reasons behind this were politically motivated, and they sprang into action after leaked information appeared on the two sites, which subsequently embarrassed the government.
Alex Smith
Many Net monitoring companies have expressed their concern at the Turkish government’s actions, and described that the state could now log who was trying to get around its restrictions.
They previously blocked access to Twitter and YouTube by getting ISPs to stop their domain name servers directing traffic to the sites. The reasons behind this were politically motivated, and they sprang into action after leaked information appeared on the two sites, which subsequently embarrassed the government.
The government twisted the story and said that the sites were blocked due to the upcoming elections, and there was misinformation being spread about certain candidates, so what was their solution? Block free speech.
The Turkish people responded by telling their computers to use domain name servers run by Google, Level 3, Open DNS and multiple others. The addresses were then shared by protesters, who painted the numbers on walls and buildings around the country, thus sparking social media warfare. Google have since said that they have received “several credible” reports that its domain name servers were being intercepted.
It’s a crazy move from a clearly insecure Turkish government, which is sure to have a massive impact on the way its citizens live their everyday lives. By blocking certain forms of communication, the Turkish government is blocking a bridge between itself and its people, and that bridge is dialogue. Without this bridge there is an increasing likelihood of dictatorship because without the bridge of dialogue spawns resentment from the masses.
The people of Turkey also need to be held responsible in a way because they also are lacking the desire to enter into dialogue, and there is a feeling now that the art of communication through the written word is actually feared in Turkey, and is maybe seen as an easy target. This is where culture comes in and traditionally Turkey does not have a rich history in Literature. Reading was once considered dangerous and books were items to get rid of for many people, and this sort of attitude may contribute to the stubborn attitude that both parties posses.
Maybe Turkey needs to come together to look at changing itself from a cultural perspective; attacking someone online because they don’t share your opinion in 140 characters is not going to help any cause whatsoever. Where Literature comes in here is through the art of understanding someone else’s story. As a species we are wired to tell stories and sometimes even exaggerate them for entertainment, but through tales we also learn how to listen to people, and without this skill there can be no hope of opening dialogue.
The Turkish people responded by telling their computers to use domain name servers run by Google, Level 3, Open DNS and multiple others. The addresses were then shared by protesters, who painted the numbers on walls and buildings around the country, thus sparking social media warfare. Google have since said that they have received “several credible” reports that its domain name servers were being intercepted.
It’s a crazy move from a clearly insecure Turkish government, which is sure to have a massive impact on the way its citizens live their everyday lives. By blocking certain forms of communication, the Turkish government is blocking a bridge between itself and its people, and that bridge is dialogue. Without this bridge there is an increasing likelihood of dictatorship because without the bridge of dialogue spawns resentment from the masses.
The people of Turkey also need to be held responsible in a way because they also are lacking the desire to enter into dialogue, and there is a feeling now that the art of communication through the written word is actually feared in Turkey, and is maybe seen as an easy target. This is where culture comes in and traditionally Turkey does not have a rich history in Literature. Reading was once considered dangerous and books were items to get rid of for many people, and this sort of attitude may contribute to the stubborn attitude that both parties posses.
Maybe Turkey needs to come together to look at changing itself from a cultural perspective; attacking someone online because they don’t share your opinion in 140 characters is not going to help any cause whatsoever. Where Literature comes in here is through the art of understanding someone else’s story. As a species we are wired to tell stories and sometimes even exaggerate them for entertainment, but through tales we also learn how to listen to people, and without this skill there can be no hope of opening dialogue.
Alex Smith
Alex is an English Literature and Sociology undergraduate whose love for written word has led him to write about some obscure topics in his time. Currently an intern at Social Media Frontiers, be sure to follow him @AlexSatSMF
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Turkey declares war on social media
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Reviewed by Alex Carson
on
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Rating:
Alex Carson
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