ANKARA: Turkey has launched a domestic messaging app to rival Facebook’s popular WhatsApp Messenger service, raising concerns among government critics that Ankara could use the new platform to tighten surveillance.

The app, called PttMessenger after Turkey’s Post and Telegraph General Directorate (PTT), was introduced in a limited roll-out to state institutions and some private companies. It is expected to be publicly available in six months.

Critics cast doubt on the suggestion the app data could not be retrieved, fearing it will give authorities greater ability to monitor dissent, pointing to the widespread crackdown after a failed military coup in July 2016.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2018