Turkish authorities brought legal action against 18,376 people based on their social media posts in 2018, the Interior Ministry announced on Monday.
The suspects were accused of disseminating terrorist propaganda, membership in a terrorist group, provoking hatred in society, insulting state officials and hate speech, Bianet reported.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu previously announced that more than 7,000 people were detained due to their social media activities last year.
In İstanbul alone, the number of Turkish citizens detained over social media posts was 2,793, according to the police department.
Among the detainees in İstanbul, 1,800 were accused of disseminating terrorist propaganda, including social media posts criticizing the Turkish army’s operation in the Syrian city of Afrin.
