Twitter suspends RedHack, 'suggests' another Turkish user deletes political tweet

ISTANBUL

Twitter has suspended the account of anti-government hacker group RedHack, while "suggesting" that another Turkish user deletes a tweet about Transportation Minister Lütfi Elvan, despite a local court order protecting it under the right to free speech.

Access to RedHack's account, @TheRedHack, was withheld in Turkey by Twitter on July 16, though the group's tweets can still be seen from other countries.

Meanwhile, Twitter “suggested” that the owner of the @madigudisi account should delete his tweet about Elvan, news website Bianet reported. 

“If your phones don’t work after an earthquake, call the ministry,” Elvan had tweeted May 28. In response, @madigudisi replied, “This is not Zaytung [the mock news portal in Turkey]. Goodbye to rationality."

On June 5, a complaint was submitted to the Ankara 5th Peace Court for the removal of content due to defamation claims. However, the court rejected the request, saying the content remained within the limits of “humorous criticism.”

Despite the court's ruling, Twitter recommended that users self-censor themselves, according to the report. 

“The aforementioned document claims you have violated Turkish Law. We might have to do something about this. If you would like to remove the content voluntarily, please inform us as soon as possible by responding to this message,” Twitter reportedly stated in a document sent to the address of the user named @madigudisi.

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