Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has viewed social media as a threat for decades. But digital platforms also offer his regime a useful and multifunctional tool for running political campaigns and muddying the waters to distract or direct the public.
Recently, signs have grown that the ruling Justice and Development Party has been successfully employing a technique called “astroturfing” to create the illusion of grassroots support for or against a policy or a person. Two examples have arisen in the last couple of weeks.
