YouTube has blocked the channel of dissident journalist and author Ahmet Nesin after a complaint reportedly filed by the Turkish authorities, highlighting Ankara’s ongoing efforts to silence critical voices abroad.
Nesin announced the blocking of his account on X, saying his “50-year struggle” would continue “under all conditions.”
Nesin, 68, has lived in exile in France since 2016, after Turkish prosecutors issued a detention warrant accusing him of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a YouTube program.
Insulting the president is a criminal offense under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code. The law has been widely criticized by rights groups for its broad use against journalists, politicians and even ordinary citizens for expressing views that might be critical or satirical of the president, even indirectly.
Before leaving Turkey to live in exile, Nesin was detained on June 20, 2016 along with several prominent writers and intellectuals on charges of “disseminating terrorist propaganda” for participating in a solidarity campaign supporting now-shuttered Özgür Gündem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper. He was released after 11 days.
From abroad he wrote columns for the Artı Gerçek news website between 2017 and 2022. He was also using his YouTube channel as a platform for independent journalism.
Rights advocates say charges such as “disseminating misleading information” and “insulting or threatening the president” have become routine tools for silencing dissenting voices in Turkey. The removal of his channel has renewed concerns about the expanding reach of Turkey’s digital censorship, as authorities increasingly pressure global online platforms to suppress critical voices abroad.
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 28 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 159th out of 180 nations.
