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Twitter triples suspensions of pro-terrorist accounts in one year
If it wasn't already clear that Twitter is serious about stamping out pro-terrorist accounts, it is now. The social network has posted its transparency report for the second half of 2016, which reveals that it suspended over 376,000 accounts for backing terrorism. That's triple the 125,000 it took down one year earlier, and a still-hefty 60 percent more than the 235,000 accounts it pulled in the first half of 2016. While some officials still don't think Twitter is up to snuff (it's not proactively reporting extremist material to police, the UK says), there's no doubt that it's considerably more aggressive.
Turkey says it's investigating 10,000 social network users
Turkey has been cracking down on internet activity at a frenetic pace ever since an attempted military coup in the summer, and it's now clear that there are a lot of people caught in the dragnet. The country's interior ministry has revealed that officials are investigating about 10,000 social network users suspected of backing terrorism. About 3,710 people have been questioned in the past 6 months, authorities say, and 1,656 were arrested. The rest were let go, but 1,203 of them are still under watch.
Turkey blocks Tor's anonymity network
Turkey's President Erdogan and the ruling AKP party are increasingly bent on silencing online dissent, and that now affects you even if you're smart enough to evade typical censorship methods. Watchdog group Turkey Blocks has confirmed that Turkey is blocking the Tor anonymity network's direct access mode for most users. You can still use a bridge mode for now, but there are hints that internet providers might be hurting performance even then. The restrictions come alongside a recent government ban on virtual private network services.
ICYMI: A new form of whale communication, found
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A new Marine Mammal Science publication found that humpback whales slap the surface of the water to communicate with one another, although what they're actually saying is still a mystery. Meanwhile MIT's CSAIL lab created a CAD-like program to create UAVS. The best part of the software is testing it virtually to see if your creation would fly in real life. The Tesla Coil video by SmarterEveryDay is pretty great and for fun, you may want to watch the Turkish satellite heading up to space. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Turkey shuts off internet service in 11 Kurdish cities
The Turkish government has cut off mobile and landline internet access to 11 cities in the country's southeast, a region that is predominantly Kurdish, Turkey Blocks reports. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, composing roughly 20 percent of the population, and the country has a history of committing human rights abuses against this population. The latest internet shutdown is now in its second day, and it comes amid protests over the detention of Gültan Kışanak and Fırat Anlı, the mayor and co-mayor of Diyarbakir. The two are being held on terrorism charges.
ICYMI: Finally, cars can morph into robots!
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A Turkish company says that for millions of dollars, it'll make you your very own Autobot (called a LeTrons) and while whether the car is actually driveable may be in question the video is still fairly incredible. No less an advancement for conductive thread, a $34 million grant from the National Science Foundation is letting a group of doctors, scientists and fashion designers create clothing that at-risk pregnant women can wear to track their health. If you're into augmented reality, this Pong game should get you going. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
WikiLeaks released a cache of malware in its latest email dump
In its rush to let information be free, WikiLeaks has released over 80 different malware variants while publishing its latest collection of emails from Turkey's ruling AKP political party. In a Github post, security expert Vesselin Bontchev has laid out many of the instances of malicious links, most of which came from "run-of-the-mill" spam and phishing emails found in the dump. While WikiLeaks has claimed the emails shed light on corruption within the Turkish government, New York Times reporter Zeynep Tufekci has pointed out that the materials have little to do with Turkish politics and mostly appear to be mailing lists and spam.
Turkish president interviewed via FaceTime during military coup
As Turkey's armed forces seized control of the country today, an odd scene unfolded on CNNTurk as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared live on the screen of an iPhone. News reports indicated he was safe but did not confirm his location, while Erdogan called on the public to support him in public squares and airports. Being forced to rely on internet communications like FaceTime is particularly notable for Erdogan, who has been described as "One of the world's most determined internet censors," for repeatedly shutting down access to services like Twitter and YouTube.
Turkish law forces PayPal to suspend operations in the country
Turkey and the tech world's relationship is infamously contentious, and the country has crippled another company: PayPal. Starting this June 6th, the secure payment service is closing up shop, according to a statement (Turkish) spotted by TechCrunch. Paypal users in the country will be able to transfer any balances to a Turkish bank account after that, but that's about it. Sending and receiving money -- you know, PayPal's main attraction -- via the service will be off the table.
US carriers cover the costs for calls and texts to Belgium
If you're determined to get in touch with friends and relatives who were in Belgium during the March 22nd terrorist attacks in Brussels, you're about to get a helping hand. Major US carriers (so far including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) are all waiving the costs of calls and text messages to Belgium to help you confirm that everyone is safe and sound. The extent of the offer varies -- Verizon's waiver runs through March 23rd, while Sprint will take care of you until March 31st. Some (such as T-Mobile and Verizon) are covering calls to Turkey following its incident, as well. It's an all too familiar gesture (carriers did the same following the Paris attacks), but it's an important one if you need to reassure yourself with a familiar voice.
Anonymous takes credit for cyberattacks crippling Turkey
Apparently, the hacktivists from Anonymous aren't just targeting ISIS directly -- they're causing chaos for indirectly responsible countries, too. The collective is taking credit for an escalating series of cyberattacks that have disrupted banks, internet backbones and government websites in Turkey. The campaign is meant to punish Turkey for allegedly turning a blind eye to activities that fund ISIS' extremism, such as oil smuggling. According to Radware, the attacks have been so fierce that they took down access to 400,000 sites and left Turkey blocking traffic in an attempt to keep sites online.
ICYMI: Plant-powered lamps, livestreaming AI and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-852982{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-852982, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-852982{width:570px;display:block;}try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-852982").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A coder from the Netherlands used a live webcam feed for a walk around Amsterdam, running neural network code that identified everything in view. Despite some obvious set-backs (it thought the creator was wearing a suit when he really wore a zip-up hoodie, natch), it impressively identified boats in a river and stacks of bikes. Researchers in Peru invented prototype lamps that run off of the bacteria of living plants. And a new security system for the camera-hacking adverse works by setting up a motion-detecting mesh network.
Turkey blocks Reddit through its internet censorship law
The Turkish government's eagerness to censor the internet isn't letting up any time soon. The country's officials have blocked Reddit under the guise of Internet Law 5651, which lets Turkey ban sites it suspects of hosting 'scandalous' content like piracy, porn or criticism of first President Mustafa Ataturk. It's relatively easy to circumvent the block (you just have to switch your DNS settings), but there's no hint that the government is about to have a change of heart.
Uber's latest service takes you across continents in a speed boat
Never mind using ridesharing services to get across cities -- Uber wants to take you across continents. The company has launched a permanent version of its UberBoat service in Istanbul that shuttles you between Asia and Europe (that is, both sides of the city) in a speed boat. It'll cost you at least 50 lira (about $19) versus the 2 lira (81 cents) for a public ferry, but you won't be waiting long to get moving... and you won't have to fight Istanbul's notoriously bad traffic, either. Each craft also carries up to 8 people, so it'll be more affordable if you're traveling as part of a pack. You probably won't use this often unless you're regularly hurrying across the Bosphorus strait, but it should be more scenic than an overcrowded bridge or tunnel.
Google's Android-for-all program comes to Europe
Google's bid to democratize Android just reached Europe. The internet giant has announced that Turkey will get its first Android One smartphone, the General Mobile 4G, on May 15th. The device is strictly middling given its 5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 410 processor, 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front cam, but it will be the first Android One device to offer LTE. It's fairly affordable, too, at about $263 contract-free. There's no mention of where Google's initiative will go next, but the company hints that Turkey might not be the last European nation to get an Android One phone -- you may eventually find one sitting in a shop near you.
'Minecraft' might get banned in Turkey for being too violent
In a move of absolute ridiculousness, Turkey wants to ban Minecraft because its Family and Social Policies Ministry's deemed it too violent for kids. Yes, a game where you build fortresses and punch trees is getting called out for its content, because in Survival Mode, you have to defend yourself from the zombie-like Mobs and that sometimes means killing them. As the region's Hurriyet Daily News reports, the Ministry also says that some kids could confuse Minecraft's blocky, pixelated landscapes for the real world which would make them think that torturing animals was totally fine. Sure; okay. The reason for the outfit casting its gaze at Microsoft's $2.5 billion purchase in the first place? To see if the game encouraged violence against women. At least its heart was in the right place at the outset.
Russia, Turkey and the US wanted more of your Twitter data last year
Twitter might not have the easiest time getting new users, but it's having no problems attracting nosy governments. The social service just published its transparency report for the back half of 2014, and there was a gigantic 40 percent spike in data requests led by just a handful of countries. While the surveillance-happy US certainly contributed to that figure with a 29 percent increase, the biggest culprits were countries that overtly clamp down on freedom of expression. Russia went from making no account info requests at all to more than 100, while Turkey's interest shot up 150 percent. And Turkey is undoubtedly a fan of censorship. While Russia's attempts to quash political opposition helped fuel 91 takedown requests, Turkey asked for a whopping 477 takedowns -- not surprising given its attempts to demonize social networks that allow easy criticism of political leaders.
Turkish court will ban Facebook if it doesn't censor blasphemous content
Every six months, Facebook reveals how many times a nation requests that the site block content that's considered illegal. In the first half of 2014, for instance, India lobbied for nearly 5,000 deletions, putting it well ahead of second-placed Turkey. Those positions may switch around, however, now that a Turkish court has ruled that unless the social network blocks a raft of pages that have been deemed as blasphemous, it'll ban Facebook outright.
Bake your turkey to the tune of Spotify's Thanksgiving playlists
Most people in the US are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving next Thursday, November 27th. Typically, this holiday is mostly about eating a ton of food, watching American football, spending quality time with the family and, most importantly, being thankful for all the good things that happened during the year. But music is very valuable too. As such, Spotify has launched its "Time for Turkey" playlist creator, hoping to help during the cooking process and make the time go by slightly faster.
Turkey finally drops its ban on YouTube
YouTube joined in Twitter's freedom last night as the government of Turkey lifted its two-month ban. The move, unsupported by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, follows an April 4th ruling of the country's Constitutional Court. After Google filed its complaint, the legislature came to the consensus that the ban did indeed violate human rights and ordered a repeal, which was reluctantly carried out by the Turkish government almost a month later.
