Turkish police have arrested 14 people suspected to have shared disinformation regarding last week’s catastrophic earthquake.
In a statement Monday, Turkish police said that 475 account managers had been identified “as being engaged in sharing provocative content” on social media platforms in relation to the earthquake “with the intention of spreading fear and panic among citizens.”
“Their details have been passed onto the relevant units, and in accordance with instructions issued by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, 56 individuals have been detained, 14 of whom have been arrested,” the statement said.
Turkish police said they had also shut down 41 phishing websites and dealt with four social media platform accounts “that demanded money from citizens by using or imitating the names of government institutions.”
Police also identified the addresses of three crypto asset wallets being falsely used to collect earthquake relief. The wallets were “subsequently frozen,” according to the statement.
Last Wednesday, access to the social media platform Twitter was restricted by Turkish authorities in the wake of the earthquake, before being restored.
Source: CNN
