We won’t betray your trust, Twitter reassures Turks

ISTANBUL

Twitter reassured Turkish users on March 24 over the protection of their privacy, following its lawyer’s closed-doors meeting with Ankara over the blocking of the social media platform.

“Twitter remains committed to defending the privacy of our users in #Turkey – we won’t betray their trust,” the social media platform’s official @policy account posted in both Turkish and English, directing its followers to its “Transparency Report.”

Ironically, Twitter used its official shortener "t.co" for the link referral in its support message to Turkish users. The shortener was also recently blocked by the government. 

Lawyer Gönenç Gürkaynak participated in a closed-door meeting with officials from Turkey’s Telecommunications Authority (TİB) in Ankara on behalf of Twitter March 21. 

Gürkaynak departed from Turkey for the United States March 23 to confer with Twitter officials in San Francisco, including the site’s co-founder Jack Dorsey, about the meeting in Ankara, according to daily Radikal.

The semi-official Anatolia news agency had reported after the Ankara meeting that Twitter suspended one account that the government pointed to in a related court ruling to justify the ban. Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Lütfü Elvan praised the move “as a positive step.”

Meanwhile, Turkish social media was rife with rumors that Twitter could hand over personal information such as the IP addresses of some dissidents, as requested by Ankara, including the details of those who have released damaging allegations of corruption in recent weeks.