Turkish authorities on Friday blocked access to the new X accounts of the pro-Kurdish Yeni Yaşam daily and the Etkin News Agency (ETHA), the latest in a series of bans targeting their social media presence, the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reported.
This is the fourth ban on Yeni Yaşam’s X account and the sixth for ETHA. The ban was imposed by Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK),citing concerns over “national security and public order.”
Both outlets immediately opened new accounts to continue publishing content. Yeni Yaşam announced that it would continue sharing news through @newsyeniyasam, while ETHA announced @etkinhbrajansi4 as its new account.
The bans come amid a broader crackdown on digital platforms in Turkey. In recent months court orders have led to the blocking of hundreds of opposition-affiliated accounts, including those of journalists living in exile, independent news outlets and even the official account of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival.
Press freedom groups and watchdogs such as the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) and EngelliWeb have documented a sharp rise in government takedown orders, especially since the arrest of İmamoğlu in March.
Turkey’s increasing use of digital censorship has been cited by press freedom monitors as a key factor in the country’s low ranking in global media freedom indices.
Turkey was ranked the lowest-scoring country in Europe for online freedoms, according to a report from the Washington-based Freedom House last October. Turkey has a score of 31 in a 100-point index, with scores based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free), and is listed as “not free.”
The country was ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
