Turkey arrests 410 citizens for "provocative" coronavirus posts

Turkey's interior minister said today the government has arrested 410 people for making "provocative" posts on social media about the coronavirus outbreak, which continues to worsen in the country and around the world.

From Reuters:

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu praised Turks for complying with social distancing measures imposed so far to curtail the spread of the disease, and said this meant tighter controls such as a curfew may be unnecessary.

Turkey has shut schools, cafes and bars, banned mass prayers, postponed sports matches and suspended flights. The number of confirmed cases of the virus in Turkey rose by 343 to 1,872 on Tuesday. Forty-four people have died.

Soylu noted that since the restrictions were put in place, the number of passengers on inter-city buses had fallen 83% and traffic intensity within 15 major cities had fallen 65%.

Turkey rounds up hundreds for social media posts about coronavirus