"Turkey seeks to tighten control over Twitter"is an article published by BBC today on the situation around social networks in Turkey following the recent protests.
"The Turkish government has asked Twitter to set up an office inside the country so company representatives can be reached more easily," the article reads.
Twitter as well as Facebook and other social networks were used to spread information during recent anti-government protests in Turkey. Several dozen tweeters were arrested following the protests, according to local media reports, the article claims.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously described Twitter as a "scourge".
"When information is requested, we want to see someone in Turkey who can provide this. There needs to be an interlocutor we can put our grievance to and who can correct an error if there is one," the article quotes the Transport and Communications Minister, Binali Yildrim.
Twitter declined to respond to the government request on Wednesday, but a person familiar with the company said it had no current plans to open an office in that country.
Neither Twitter nor Facebook currently have an office in the country, although Facebook has staff in London who deal specifically with Turkey.
Both are popular in the country and were widely used by citizens seeking information about the protests at a time when mainstream Turkish media provided little or no coverage of the events, the author writes.
"More generally, we reject all government data requests from Turkish authorities and push them to formal legal channels unless it appears that there is an immediate threat to life or a child," the article quotes Facebook official statement.
