Disinformation 'virus threatens all humanity,' says Turkish official

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye will keep fighting disinformation which has turned into a "virus" and threatens all of humanity, the head of the country's Communications Directorate said on Wednesday.

"Disinformation has turned into a virus that threatens all humanity today. Because, first of all, disinformation is a danger for social existence, which should be based on correct and clean communication," Fahrettin Altun said at an event in the capital Ankara.

Addressing the event, titled 'Methods of Combating Disinformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,' Altun said Türkiye was one of the countries most exposed to disinformation in the international arena.

"Fake news, of course, is not just a matter of today. With the institutionalization of modern media, humanity has faced the problem of fake news," he added.

Defining disinformation as "most destructive weapon", Altun said it was clear how social media networks were used as a tool for manipulation and disinformation.

He called on Twitter's CEO Elon Musk to "explain what kind of interventions have been made in the political life of Türkiye via Twitter in the past. Disclose what kind of secret censorship is applied to the social media accounts of our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) and us.

"Explain to the opponents of Türkiye what are the propaganda opportunities systematically provided to terrorist organizations and what is the systematic behind them. Explain so that the whole world public can clearly see the hybrid methods used by neocolonialism," added Altun.

Stressing the need to collectively fight against disinformation, Altun said Türkiye stands against the "global establishment that is trying to occupy our minds and take away our freedom and sovereignty through social media channels."

Ankara takes pride in opposing operations of perception, manipulation, and policies of systematic disinformation that only serve the interests of dominant powers, he added.

"The masks of those who associate supporting terrorist organizations with democracy, and those who camouflage attack against Islam with freedom and see it as legitimate, have fallen," Altun said.