Turkey Cracks Down on Social Media, Detains Hundreds Following Deadly School Shootings

Turkey detained 411 people and blocked 1,866 URLs in a sweeping crackdown on social media following two deadly school shootings that left 10 dead and triggered nationwide alarm.

Turkish police announced on Friday that 1,866 URL addresses had been blocked and 411 people were detained by police for “misleading the public and undermining public order” following deadly mass shootings that left 10 dead.

“Efforts to combat provocative content and activities aimed at misleading the public and undermining public order are being carried out with determination and will continue,” Turkish police wrote in a press release on Friday.

A school shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday left 10 dead including eight children, a teacher and the shooter, who was reported to have been in the eighth grade (ages 13 to 14). The shooter used guns owned by his father, a former police officer who has been taken into custody.

This was the second school shooting in two days. The previous incident occurred at Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical High School in the Siverek district of Sanliurfa on Tuesday and left 16 wounded. The shooter in this attack, initials O.K., was born in 2007 and was a former student who had switched to distance learning education. 

The Turkish government responded to the shootings with a broad crackdown on the internet and social media, with Telegram emerging as a primary target.

“One hundred and eleven channels operating on the Telegram platform, belonging to the group named ‘C31K’ which was assessed to have shared content related to these incidents, have been shut down,” Turkish police said.

Mass school shootings are a relatively new phenomenon in Turkey. However, the back-to-back attacks have shocked the country and social media posts allegedly announcing further attacks have heightened public concern and prompted a strong law enforcement response.

“A total of 411 individuals have been apprehended for making misleading posts, issuing threats and calls to action, and inciting hatred and hostility among the public,” Turkish police added.