'Gay lobby' behind Twitter's censorship of Interior Minister Soylu, says pro-gov't media outlet

Twitter has limited access to two tweets of Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu following the “pressure of gay lobby,” said a pro-government online news outlet. The social network has hidden Soylu's posts behind a notice against “hateful conduct” after he targeted the LGBT community by calling them "perverted."

Tuesday February 02 2021 08:58 pm

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu addresses reporters in this file photo.

Duvar English

A pro-government online news outlet has said that Twitter has limited engagement on two tweets of Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu following the “pressure of gay lobby.”

Haber Vakti said that Twitter's move came after “a group of gay Twitter users” filed a complaint with the social networking service about Soylu's posts.

Twitter has limited access to two tweets of Soylu over hateful conduct, a first such step by the social media giant taken against a government official in Turkey.

Soylu on Jan. 31 tweeted that “LGBT perverts” had been detained for “disrespecting the Kaaba,” referring to the protests at Boğaziçi University against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's anti-democratic rector appointment.

On Feb. 2, he repeated the slur, writing on Twitter: "Should we be lenient towards those LGBT perverts who insult the great Kaaba? Of course not. Should we be lenient towards the LGBT perverts who attempted to occupy the rectorate building? Of course not."

Twitter's move is expected to add fuel to the fire to the rift between the Turkish government and social media companies. The government has been trying to bring all social media platforms under its control by forcing them to open an office in Turkey, but Twitter has so far refrained from doing so.