Why Turkey's Leader Has Vowed to “Eradicate” Twitter

Hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said he'd “eradicate” Twitter, the social networking site is now inaccessible in the country, according to NBC News. A controversial new internet law passed last month allows the country’s telecommunications authority to order content removed within hours without a court order. The press advisory of the Prime Ministry argued that Twitter officials currently "ignore" some court rulings in Turkey, which order the social media platform to "remove some links" as per the complaints filed by Turkish citizens. The cause of the ban is most certainly political as Turkey prepares for March 30 local elections, seen as a key test of power for the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party, now in its 11th year of rule. Anonymous users have been posting links to YouTube of audio recordings purporting to be wiretaps that expose rampant corruption within Erdogan's inner circle.

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