Hand In Glove: Elon Musk buckled to Erdogan, Twitter censored Opposition before Turkey President polls

A recent investigation into Twitter has revealed that the Erdoğan-led Turkish government had requested Twitter to censor the accounts of several prominent leaders of the opposition in Türkiye, ahead of the country’s Presidential election.

Moreover, Elon Musk, being the free-speech absolutist that he claims to be, complied with the request. When confronted by journalists, Musk accepted doing so, implying it was the obvious thing to do, and attacking the journalist who took issue with the incident.

Also read: Elon Musk calls himself a ‘free speech absolutist’. Is it yet another one of his Twitter jokes?

In a late Friday evening announcement, Twitter’s official Global Government Affairs account stated that the platform would be limiting access to certain content in Türkiye. This decision was made in response to legal requests received by the social media site, the account Tweeted.

The announcement coincided with Türkiye’s closely contested presidential election as reported by The Washington Post, which took place on May 14.

Elon Musk – the free speech absolutist
When he was in the process of taking over Twitter and was engaged in a very public battle with the people managing Twitter back then, Elon Musk had positioned himself as a free speech absolutist, and often called Twitter the internet’s town square. He also then went on to lambast Twitter’s previous management for complying with the US government’s requests to take down certain tweets, and completely ban, or shadow-ban certain handles.

However, since Musk started managing the day-to-day operations of Twitter, he hasn’t been able to live up to the image of the free speech absolutist that he wanted people to perceive him as. Since Musk bought and took control of Twitter, the social media platform has complied with more takedown and ban requests from governments all over the world, than the previous management.

In response to the news, California Representative Adam Schiff tweeted his concerns, suggesting that Twitter’s decision to restrict content on the platform in Türkiye just before a significant election seemed like an acquiescence to the demands of the country’s autocratic ruler, Erdoğan. Representative Schiff also expressed scepticism about Twitter’s commitment to free speech, pointing out the lack of transparency from the company. He implied that Elon Musk’s previous promises regarding free speech may not hold true in this case.

According to a report by Rest of World, since Elon Musk assumed control of Twitter last year, the platform has shown a higher compliance rate with government requests for censorship or user surveillance.

The report states that Musk’s Twitter account has complied with over 80 per cent of these requests, compared to a compliance rate of approximately 50 per cent prior to his leadership. This data suggests an increase in the frequency with which Musk’s Twitter account complies with government demands related to censorship or user surveillance.

Which accounts were shadow-banned/restricted in Türkiye?
Dr. Tuğrulcan Elmas, a postdoctoral researcher at Indiana University Bloomington who specializes in social media manipulation, has provided insights regarding the accounts that were chosen for restriction on Twitter.

According to Dr. Elmas, these accounts were often targeted by the Turkish government in the past because they had affiliations with political opposition or were associated with whistleblowers who have been critical of President Erdoğan.

Also read: Sex, lies and videotape: The scandal that is shaking up Turkey’s election

Dr. Elmas also highlighted that a troll account impersonating a whistleblower named Ali Yeşildağ, which violated Twitter’s terms of service by engaging in impersonation and sharing fake nude photos of politicians opposing Erdoğan, had not been removed from the platform. He also believes that the account could potentially serve as a propaganda tool utilized by the government to undermine President Erdoğan’s opponents.

This could involve discrediting them by creating a false narrative of opposition figures engaging in blackmail against each other.

Elon Musk goes on the offensive
Following Musk’s decision to restrict Twitter accounts upon the request of the Turkish government, observers were quick to criticize his actions, labelling him a “free speech opportunist.”

Matt Yglesias, a Bloomberg columnist, tweeted about the Turkish government’s request for censorship and Musk’s compliance, writing “The Turkish government asked Twitter to censor its opponents right before an election and Elon Musk complied.”

Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2023

To this, Musk fired back, tweeting, “Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is to have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?”

The curious case of Wikipedia
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, also joined the conversation, calling out Musk’s approach, and comparing it to Wikipedia’s stance on freedom of expression. “What Wikipedia did: we stood strong for our principles and fought to the Supreme Court of Türkiye and won. This is what it means to treat freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan.”

What Wikipedia did: we stood strong for our principles and fought to the Supreme Court of Turkey and won. This is what it means to treat freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan. https://t.co/tHkx1Wa06r

— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) May 13, 2023

In response to defenders of Musk who argued that comparing Twitter to Wikipedia was a false equivalency due to their differing profit structures (Wikipedia being a nonprofit while Twitter is a for-profit business), Wales replied by stating, “If Elon is now saying ‘We don’t care about freedom of expression if it interferes with making money,’ then he should just say that.” Wales implied that if Musk’s prioritization is profit over freedom of expression, he should be transparent about it.

Also read: Turkey blocks all access to Wikipedia inside the country

For those who are unaware, Wikipedia was banned in Türkiye from 2017 to 2020. The ban came as a result of an article that accused the country of sponsoring terrorism, specifically mentioning its alleged support for the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. The Turkish government deemed this content to be offensive and a threat to national security, leading to the blocking of Wikipedia within the country.

The ban persisted for several years until a legal battle ensued and eventually reached the highest court in Türkiye. In January 2020, the Turkish government lifted the block on Wikipedia, allowing access to the site once again for Turkish users following a lengthy court battle.

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