The administration of the global social networking site facebook banned the PurpleHand ('MorEl') facebook group from Eskisşehir (central Turkey), as reported on Friday (7 January). MorEl is a non-governmental initiative advocating for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite and transgender individuals (LGBTT). The PurpleHand Eskişehir initiative criticized the closure of the facebook group and of the accounts of ten administrators of the group.

Members of the initiative argued, "The closure of the PurpleHand Eskişehir group on an international social networking site is first of all an intervention against freedom of expression and communication of LGBTT individuals". They demanded to re-open the group and restore the closed accounts of the PurpleHand voluntaries.

No prior warning

The facebook administration closed the PurpleHand Eskişehir facebook group and the accounts of ten group administrators on 28 December. Facebook did not send any announcement or warning.

The global networking site announced the reason for the closure upon the application of the group members as follows: "Permission is not being issued to groups using drugs, implying contents related to nudity and obscenity, containing violence and brutality, harassing an individual person or a group and supporting terrorist activities".

"We cannot be considered in the same category with violent groups"

The members of the PurpleHand Eskişehir group emphasized that their group does not belong to any of those categories. The group was supported in its demand for re-opening the group account and re-allocating the addresses of the PurpleHand voluntaries by members of the Black Pink Triangle Izmir LGBT Association, the Hevjin Diyarbakır LGBTT organization, the Pink Life LGBTT Solidarity Association, the KaosGL Association, the LambdaIstanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association and the Socialist Feminist Collective. (BB/VK)