Turkish police on Wednesday arrested 25 people they accused of using Twitter and social media to stoke anti-government sentiment during protests that have engulfed the country.

Police in Turkey's third city of Izmir said the suspects had been detained for "spreading untrue information" and inciting people to join demonstrations, the state-run agency reported. They were rounded up on Tuesday night. Izmir, in western Turkey, has been the scene of violent clashes between riot police and protesters.

The authorities appear to have taken their cue from Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who denounced Twitter as a "menace to society", adding: "The best examples of lies can be found there." Turkey's state-run media ignored the protests, at least at first, instead screening documentaries on Hitler and penguins.

Families of those arrested gathered in front of Izmir's police station. They said some of those detained, who are all between 20 and 25 years old, don't have Twitter accounts. They added that some of the tweets in question shared information and phone numbers of volunteer doctors and lawyers. Others said: "There are police in x, don't come here" or "this and that street is blocked" or "let's meet tonight at x" Lawyers for the suspects said the accusations were unfounded. "I have looked at their files and examined their tweets," Sevda Erdan Kilic told Radikal newspaper: "There is nothing to provoke the people (into rioting). They are sentiments we all share." Another lawyer, Imdat Atas, told CNNTurk: "There is nothing in the indictment that points at a crime. We think that (these arrests have been made) because of the prime minister's comments about Twitter."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/05/turkish-police-arrests-social-media-protest