This month, The New York Times wrote about Bana, the global attention she has attracted and how the Twitter account has also raised questions of veracity and authenticity in an era of internet hoaxes and fabrications.

Some experts on news media ethics said that, despite the appeal of such a heartbreaking narrative — and with a young girl at its center, no less — news outlets had to approach the account with skepticism, and that some had fallen short. “It’s always a question of whether a 7-year-old is being used as a propaganda tool, and if so, by whom,” said Jane E. Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. “Sometimes we fall in love with a concept and basically ignore things that would undermine that concept, and ignore things that should be red flags.” She added, “For me, my antenna always goes up when the story is this compelling.”

Mr. Erdogan has railed against social media platforms like Twitter in the past, particularly when they were used by protesters in Turkey to spread messages of dissent or share leaked documents. He has called Twitter “the worst menace to society” and has blocked the platform for brief periods.

At other times, Mr. Erdogan has used Twitter and other online platforms to spread his own messages. During the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July, Mr. Erdogan used the FaceTime app on his cellphone to communicate with and direct his followers.