Turkish authorities have blocked access to 93 social media accounts accused of making “provocative” posts and attempting to create “social chaos” following a controversial court decision last week that removed the leadership of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkish Minute reported.
The access bans followed technical and legal reviews carried out by the presidency’s Communications Directorate, the police cybercrime department and relevant prosecutors’ offices.
The accounts had allegedly shared content “aimed at disrupting the public order,” insulted “state officials” and carried out “organized digital activities” intended to create social unrest.
Investigations have also been launched into the users of the accounts.
The move came after the 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice on May 21 annulled the CHP’s 2023 congress.
The ruling removed CHP leader Özgür Özel and the party’s current leadership from office as an interim measure and reinstated former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his team.
The CHP rejected the ruling, while rights groups and opposition figures described it as a serious escalation in the government’s pressure on Turkey’s largest opposition party.
Human Rights Watch said the decision was “the latest deeply damaging blow to the rule of law, democracy and human rights” in Turkey.
The court decision sparked anger among CHP supporters and intensified tensions within the party, which scored a historic victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the March 2024 local elections.
The latest restrictions also come amid an ongoing crackdown on opposition figures, journalists and online speech.
Turkish authorities have frequently sought access bans on social media accounts during politically sensitive periods, including after the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, widely seen as Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, in March 2025.
İmamoğlu, who remains jailed on corruption charges he denies, has been at the center of a wider campaign targeting CHP-run municipalities since the opposition’s local election gains.
More than 20 CHP mayors have been detained or jailed in investigations that the party says are politically motivated.
The government denies targeting the opposition and says the judiciary acts independently.
