President Recep Tayyip Erdogan portrayed social media as one of the main threats to democracy over the weekend. On Dec. 11, Erdogan reiterated calls to “protect” Turks against “lies and disinformation” on social media. In a video message to a government-organized communications conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said, “We will not, under any circumstances, allow perception management operations to devalue the truth or cover it up with lies.”

Within 24 hours of Erdogan's comments, Turkish police raided the homes of four local YouTubers in the southern city of Antalya. 

"The police raided our house at 7 a.m. today and have taken away our computers and all devices of communication. The police took my spouse Hasan Koksoy to a vehicle and took him away,” tweeted Tugba Koksoy from the Twitter account @KendineMuhabir affiliated with the Kendine Muhabir (A Journalist of His Own) YouTube channel. It mainly airs street interviews on Turkey's economic difficulties and unemployment and covered the harassment charges against a high-profile member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

Simultaneously, police from Antalya's cyber crimes department raided the homes of Arif Kocabiyik and Turan Kural, the owner and the presenter of the YouTube channel Ilave TV. A fourth YouTuber, who was away in Istanbul, was not detained but told to report to the police immediately. “The police also raided my apartment and confiscated my computer but as I am in Istanbul, I was not taken into custody,” Mahmut Koyuncu of the YouTube channel Sade Vatandas (A Simple Citizen), told Al-Monitor. “I am now on my way to Antalya to report to the police. But what I do not understand is the method — why not simply call us to the police station? Why raid our homes?”