Turkey arrests 20 over ‘provocative’ social media posts on earthquake

Turkish police said they have arrested 78 people accused of creating fear and panic by "sharing provocative posts" about last week's earthquake on social media, adding 20 of them were being held in pre-trial detention.

Turkey's General Directorate of Security said it had identified 613 people accused of making provocative posts, and legal proceedings had been initiated against 293. Of this group, the chief prosecutor had ordered the arrest of 78.

The directorate added that 46 websites were shut down for running "phishing scams" that were trying to steal donations for quake victims, and 15 social media accounts posing as official institutions had also been closed.