Social Media in Turkey as a Space for Political Battles

AKTrolls and other Politically motivated trolling

Bibliographic Data

ID12980674
AuthorsErkan Saka (0000-0002-1845-4129, Istanbul Bilgi University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume27
Issue2
Pages161-177
Publication date2018-02-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMiddle East Critique (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1943-6149 • E-ISSN: 1943-6157
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19436149.2018.1439271
OpenAlexW2791645162
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited13

This article focuses on AKTrolls, defined as pro-government political trolls in Turkey, while attempting to draw implications about political trolling in the country in general. It examines their methods and effects, and it interrogates whether (and how) Turkish authorities have attempted to shape or counter politically motivated social media content production through trolling after the Gezi Park Protests that took place in 2013. My findings are based on an ethnographic study that included participant observation and in-depth interviews in a setting that is under-studied and about which reliable sources are difficult to find. The study demonstrates political trolling activity in Turkey is more decentralized and less institutionalized than generally thought, and is based more on ad hoc decisions by a larger public. However, I argue here that AKTrolls do have impact on reducing discourses on social media that are critical of the government, by engaging in surveillance, among other practices

Ethnography · Government (linguistics · Media studies · Participant observation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Turkish · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics