Turkey’s government has reportedly blocked access to social media services including Twitter and WhatsApp.
Monitoring group Turkey Blocks has also noted that Facebook, Instagram, Skype and YouTube have been affected by the “throttling”, which has slowed the sites to the extent that they cannot be used functionally.
The move follows the arrest of several pro-Kurdish members of parliament, and came into effect at around the same time as the early morning raids that saw the lawmakers apprehended.
After weathering an attempted coup in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has implemented a crackdown on both the media and his political opponents, including members of parliament and the armed forces.
A full shutdown of the internet was imposed earlier this week in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southwest region, with reports indicating that the intent was to prevent patients from receiving medical supplies.
