PODCASTS

Turkey’s experiment with Clubhouse and Erdogan’s crackdown on social media

Turkey’s experiment with Clubhouse and Erdogan’s crackdown on social media

Merve Tahiroglu, the Turkey program coordinator at the Project on Middle East Democracy, joins us to talk about her latest piece in Brookings’ TechStream blog about the social media app Clubhouse, its role in the recent student protests at Istanbul’s Bogazici University, it’s broader impact on Turkey’s political scene, and its transformation from a safe space for critics into another digital battleground for Erdogan’s information wars.

We also look at Turkey’s broader crackdown on social media, and whether companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can ultimately ensure users a safe space for public debate in Turkey.