Turkey's government blocked access to the social media site Twitter late Thursday, an action that has drawn criticism and ridicule from the international community Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Twitter restrictions came hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, who has been in hot water regarding corruption allegations, vowed in a speech that he would "eradicate" the site.

When would-be users attempted to use Twitter Thursday night, they were met with a telecommunications authority notification claiming a court action was blocking the site.

According to the Times, the 12 million Twitter users in Turkey found ways to circumvent the blockade by sending out tweets through text messaging.

Turkey's newspaper the Hurriyet reported that #twitterblockedturkey became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter as Turkish citizens posted more than half a million tweets within hours after the ban.

Most of the tweets berated and ridiculed the government's heavy-handedness. Images were also being posted of Twitter's blue-bird logo circling ErdoÄŸan's head or vanishing in a cloud of tear gas.

The prime minister has been facing allegations of corruption for the last several months and said he believes social media such Twitter and Facebook are being used by his protestors to provoke civil unrest. Additionally, the country has banned YouTube sporadically in the past.

Social media has played a major role in revealing recordings and documents aimed at incriminating ErdoÄŸan and his administration while also being used to garner support and organize protest demonstrations.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gül also expressed his displeasure with the ErdoÄŸan and the government over the Twitter shutdown. He said shutting down social media platforms "cannot be approved."

Štefan Füle, European Union enlargement commissioner, also said he was "gravely concerned" about the social media restrictions and added that freedom of communication was a "fundamental EU value."