(Bloomberg) -- Turkish police arrested 20 people for social-media posts about last week’s deadly earthquakes, saying the messages were “provocative”.

The move comes amid growing criticism of the government’s handling of the rescue effort in the crucial first few days following the disaster, which has killed more than 40,000 people across Turkey and Syria.

Turkish police say they’ve detected 613 owners of social media accounts whose posts were deemed to have spread “fear and panic” among the public, with legal proceedings launched against 293 of them. As of Wednesday, 78 people had been detained and 20 arrested.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly criticized “disinformation” on social media about the earthquakes and the state response.

On Tuesday, Erdogan urged citizens to disregard the “incitements, lies, and delusions of troublemakers,” adding that he is “taking note” of those spreading disinformation. 

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