Istanbul police: Judicial action taken against 2,500 social media users in 2018

Çetin Aydın – ANKARA

Judicial actions have been taken against 2,793 social media users in 2018, Istanbul police have said in a statement.

According to the written statement published on the Istanbul Police Department’s website on Dec. 30, judicial actions were taken against 750 people for conducting “terrorist propaganda” on their social media accounts.

“Legal processes against 236 people who insulted [founder of modern Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk and statesmen have been initiated,” said the statement.

Moreover, judicial actions have been taken against a total of 507 social media users for “making propaganda for FETÖ” and 89 others for “making propaganda for Adnan Oktar’s criminal organization,” the statement said, referring to televangelist Adnan Oktar’s network.

Legal action has been taken against 459 social media users on charges of “provoking the public and inciting hatred and enmity among the public,” the statement said.

Legal proceedings have been initiated against 203 social media users for making “terrorist propaganda” for opposing the Turkish military’s operation in the Syrian district of Afrin.

“Judicial action has been initiated against 81 people for ‘smuggling,’ 16 people for ‘illegal arms sale and trade,’ seven people for ‘child abuse’ and five people for encouraging people to ‘suicide or suicide attempt,’” said the police statement.