Turkey has issued access blocking orders for the X accounts of two journalists, a news outlet and women’s rights groups, extending a series of online restrictions that began with nationwide police operations targeting LGBTQ+ organizations and activists.
The latest accounts affected belong to journalists İrfan Değirmenci and Şirin Payzın, left-wing news outlet soL Haber, the Women’s Coalition and the Federation of Women’s Associations of Turkey (TKDF), along with other accounts, censorship monitor EngelliWeb announced on Wednesday.
The accounts had not yet been withheld from users in Turkey by X as of Wednesday afternoon, meaning they could still be viewed despite the access blocking decisions.
The court or government body behind the latest decisions and the legal grounds cited for them were not identified in the initial reports.
The orders mark another expansion of restrictions that began on September 12 with websites and social media accounts belonging to LGBT rights organizations and activists.
Another 32 X accounts, many belonging to university LGBTQ+ groups and initiatives, were blocked on September 13, according to EngelliWeb, which is run by the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD).
The restrictions spread beyond LGBTQ+ organizations the following day.
Accounts belonging to the Evrensel daily, Amnesty International Turkey, Academics for Peace and the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), along with those of journalists, labor groups and rights organizations, were among the X and Instagram accounts blocked on September 14.
A separate September 13 decision by an İstanbul court blocked dozens of X accounts on grounds of obscenity, according to İFÖD.
The latest orders also affect women’s organizations that had opposed the police operations against LGBT groups.
The Women’s Coalition Legal Working Group and TKDF were among more than 120 women’s organizations that signed a joint declaration calling for an end to the raids, detentions and online restrictions.
The declaration argued that advocacy and organizing around sexual orientation and gender identity are not crimes and expressed solidarity with the LGBTQ+ movement.
There was no public information as of Wednesday linking the latest blocking decisions to the organizations’ support for that declaration.
The restrictions have unfolded in tandem with a nationwide operation launched on September 12 under the name “My Family Is Safe.”
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that prosecutors in five provinces were coordinating investigations spanning 15 provinces and involving 162 people, nine associations and 13 businesses.
The government says the investigations concern allegations of facilitating prostitution, producing or distributing obscene material and exposing children to such content.
Gürlek also said access blocking measures had been imposed on a large number of websites and social media accounts as part of the investigations.
The Justice Ministry on September 14 sent instructions to 175 chief public prosecutors across all 81 provinces asking them to act on complaints involving material deemed obscene or harmful to children and young people and to seek content removal or access blocking when necessary.
Amnesty International said on Tuesday that more than 180 social media accounts belonging to LGBT organizations, activists, journalists, media outlets and others had been blocked or restricted since the operation began.
Amnesty’s Turkey account was among those affected. The organization said X informed it that the account had been withheld in Turkey following a decision communicated by the Cyber Security Presidency under Article 8/A of Turkey’s Law No. 5651, while the account continued to be accessible outside the country.
Rights groups have criticized the operations as an assault on freedom of association and expression, while the government says the measures are aimed at protecting children, the institution of the family and social order.
The investigations have also led to arrests across the country. Courts have jailed 16 people in İzmir, seven in Ankara and 28 in Mersin, while police detained 106 people who gathered outside an İstanbul courthouse to protest the operations on Tuesday.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
