Twitter back online in Turkey after being blocked following devastating quake

Access to Twitter in Turkey has been restored, the Netblocks internet observatory said on Thursday. This comes aftertalks were held between the company and Turkish authorities about content being posted after a major earthquake this week.

"Metrics confirm access to Twitter is being restored in Turkey following hours of filtering," NetBlocks said on its Twitter account.

Turkey's Deputy Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan told the Twitter management that the country expectscooperation on fighting disinformation as earthquake relief work continues.

Earlier, quake-hit people in the country were unable to use the social media platform on Wednesday. As per reports, it started when Turkish people thronged on social media and criticised Erdogan's government in its failure to efficiently respond in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake that hit the Middle East nation on Monday.

Turkish social media was flooded with remarks from users who were dissatisfied with the state of search and rescue operations in their areas after the devastating earthquake. The Twitter outage occurred as Erdogan visited two of the most severely affected areas in Turkey.

Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk later said in a tweet that the Turkish government had informed the companythat full access to the social media platform in the country will be re-enabled "shortly".

"Twitter has been informed by the Turkish government that access will be re-enabled shortly," Musk tweeted, without providing further details on timing.

Also Read | Turkey earthquake: Erdogan admits 'shortcomings' as death toll nears 12,000

The Turkish police has been stamping its authority on social media dissenters. Over a dozen have been detained so far for criticising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and its post-quake relief measures.

The report of Twitter inaccessibility was confirmed by AFP news agency as well where the ground reporters could not get their hands on the microblogging site on major Turkish mobile providers on Wednesday. However, the agency reported that Twitter was still accessible using virtual private network (VPN) services, that hides a user's physical location.

Also Read | Europe to mobilise donors to aid rehabilitation of quake-affected people in Turkey, Syria

This comes in the backdrop of the looming risk at Erdogan's political aspirations ahead of the May 14 election in which the President will eye for an extension to his two-decade rule.

Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, the netblocks.org social media monitor said the social media website was being restricted "on multiple internet providers in Turkey". "Turkey has an extensive history of social media restrictions during national emergencies and safety incidents," the monitor added.

Watch | Turkiye earthquake survivors recall horror

The issue was not immediately addressed by Turkish officials, who repeatedly warned against the circulation of false information ahead of the May polls. At least 11,200 people were killed by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday and its aftershocks across southeast Turkey and portions of Syria.

(With inputs from agencies)

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