Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed court papers against a Greek graphic designer who goes by the handle Jo Di for a 2015 meme that bears a blood-stained photo of Erdoğan with the words “Stop Killer Erdogan.”
Bowing to Turkish pressure, Facebook has already closed Jo Di’s page on the social media platform, according to a Tweet, which has received widespread disdain from Greek and foreign Twitter users.
“Is this free speech, Facebook?” One Twitter user asked.
Is this is "free speech" @facebook ?https://t.co/mCtvTfo6J5
— Κάποιος Ταδόπουλος (@_Wiesenthal_S_) February 22, 2018
And Jo Di’s popular Twitter account (11.1k followers) may be next, according to a letter (s)he received from Twitter’s legal department asking him to take down images that are offensive to the Turkish president.
Jo Di’s identity is not known and the designer always leaves his/her imprint on the memes (s)he creates, which often go viral.
Jo Di has defended the meme, stating on his/her website that the words were taken from chants of Turks themselves, at demonstrations in Ankara in 2015 against Erdogan.
Erdogan’s government filed lawsuits against dozens of accounts that portrayed him in a negative light.
Jo Di originally published the image back in October of 2015.
Stop killer Erdogan #Ankara #AnkaraBombing
"Δολοφόνε Ερντογαν" φωνάζουν οι διαδηλωτές στην Αγκυρα pic.twitter.com/dCLSaIGEqc— 𝕁𝕠 𝔻𝕚 🏳️🌈 (@jodigraphics15) October 10, 2015
*****
Since you’re here… I have a small favor to ask.
More and more people than ever before are reading The Pappas Post and despite increasing costs to maintain the site and provide you with the quality content that you deserve, I will never “force” you to pay for our website or add a paywall. I believe in the democracy of the internet and want to keep this site and its enriching content free for everyone. But at the same time I’m asking those who frequent the site to chip in and help keep it both high quality— and free. We’ve implemented a “free-will” annual subscription for those who want to support our efforts. I guess it’s fair to call it a philotimo subscription… because you don’t have to do it but it’s really the right thing to do if you love the site and the content we publish. So if you like The Pappas Post and want to help, please consider becoming a “philotimo subscriber”. Click here to subscribe. If you’d rather make a one time donation, we will gladly accept any amount, with appreciation. Click here to donate any amount.
