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On Thursday Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shut down his country’s access to Twitter, saying social media is the “worse menace to society.” Shortly before midnight, users in Turkey attempting to access the network instead saw a notice from the government’s telecommunications authority listing three new court rulings against the use of Twitter. The reason behind the Erdogan’s court-backed restriction is that the social media site has grown popularity in becoming a virtual protesting ground against the Turkish government. With elections coming up, the Prime Minister has seemed to have had enough. Over the last two years protests have ripped across the website against the government’s corruption, disliked urban development plans, and general shift away from secularism. The Twitter ban is only the most recent form of government crackdown on freedom of press and expression in Turkey and has caused more outrage rather than the intended silence. After the country’s Twitter was apparently disabled, the hashtag #TwitterisblockedinTurkey went viral. Some Twitter users in Turkey have found a way around the ban by sending their tweets in through an SMS message, but cannot have access to the entire site.
In Other News • Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, died Thursday at the age of 84. The church, which he founded in 1955, is known for its anti-gay protests at more than 53,000 public events. These events range from Lady Gaga concerts to funerals for U.S. soldiers. Typically, a dozen or so church members—including small children—will carry signs that crudely attack homosexuality. Under Phelps’ leadership, Westboro members have preached that every calamity, from natural disasters to the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting is God’s punishment for the country’s acceptance of homosxuality. Phelps was often called “the most hated man in America.” • In an attempt to increase sales after the morning rush, coffee retail giant, Starbucks, has announced plans to turn thousands of its cafes into beer and wine vendors during the evening. Starbucks tested this new business idea in 2010 by offering alcohol after 4:00PM at a single Seattle Starbucks café. The endeavor proved successful and was introduced to 25 more locations over the next three years. By the end of 2014 this number is expected to double and be implemented in a large percentage of the 11,000 Starbucks locations over the next decade.
