The removal of accounts from a pro-AKP network associated with the party's "young wing" formed part of Twitter's international crackdown on "state-linked information operations", for which the social media platform said it is creating a publicly accessible archive.
“Based on our analysis of the network’s technical indicators and account behaviors, the collection of fake and compromised accounts was being used to amplify political narratives favorable to the AK Parti [AKP], and demonstrated strong support for President Erdogan. We’re disclosing 7,340 accounts to the archive today,” read Twitter's statement.
Twitter said that they were able to detect a network of accounts in early 2020 “employing coordinated inauthentic activity, which was primarily targeted at domestic audiences within Turkey.”
The removed accounts included those that were originally associated with "organizations critical of President Erdogan and the Turkish Government” that have been "repeated targets of account hacking and takeover efforts by the state actors identified above".
Accounts linked to the Communist Party of China (CCP) and the United Russia party were also subject to removal. In total, 32,242 accounts were sent to the archive — "the only one of its kind in the industry,” Twitter said.
“Every account and piece of content associated with these operations has been permanently removed from the service,” the statement added.
As per Twitter’s rules, accounts are permanently removed if they are engaged in “bulk, aggressive, or deceptive activity that misleads others and/or disrupts their experience.”
In curtailment of freedom of expression, Ankara monitors social media – especially Twitter – to detect posts critical of government policies. Scores of people have been detained for their posts on social media regarding Turkey’s recent cross-border operations against Kurdish forces in Syria.
An official from Erdogan's office slammed Twitter's action, calling it an attempt to "smear" Ankara.
"The company's allegations that those accounts were 'fake' profiles designed to support the President and that they were single-handedly managed by a central authority are untrue," said Fahrettin Altun, communications director for the Turkish Presidency.
"Its attempt to smear the Government of Turkey and a popular political movement [AKP] is unacceptable."
Updated 7:47 pm
