Turkish authorities use facial recognition to identify and arrest protest participants
Turkish authorities deployed facial recognition technology during anti-government protests that began in March 2025 to identify and arrest demonstrators. Police arrested nearly 2,000 protesters, including journalists, after identifying them from photos and videos using facial recognition cross-referenced with social media profiles.
What happened
Anti-government protests erupted in Turkey on March 19, 2025, following the detention of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on graft charges. Authorities used facial recognition technology to identify protesters from photos and videos captured by police during demonstrations.
The facial recognition system cross-references identified faces with social media profiles. Many protesters were arrested in pre-dawn raids at their homes after being identified through this process.
Reported impact
Nearly 2,000 people were arrested in connection with the protests. Thirteen Turkish journalists were detained for covering the demonstrations, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who was charged with taking part in illegal rallies based on images shot by police.
Many demonstrators responded by covering their faces with hats, masks and scarves. Police frequently surrounded protesters and ordered them to uncover their faces to be filmed, refusing to let them go if they did not, generating widespread distress for many young people.
Index analysis
Digital technologies expert Orhan Sener stated that security forces' information technology capabilities have increased considerably since 2013, when protesters dominated social networks and police were unable to identify them. He noted that today when someone joins a demonstration in Turkey, their face is recognized by a camera and cross-referenced with their social media profile.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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