Recent access restrictions on social media accounts has expanded to journalists, women’s organizations, news outlets and political groups, continuing a series of blocking decisions that began with LGBTI+ organizations on Sep 12.
According to the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), the latest accounts subject to blocking orders include journalists İrfan Değirmenci, Şirin Payzın and Fırat Fıstık, as well as soL Haber nws website, the Federation of Turkish Women’s Associations and the Women’s Coalition.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the same day that access had been restricted to 419 social media accounts and one link following work coordinated by its Cybercrime Investigation Bureau.
Police raids, online censorship target Turkey’s LGBTI+ community in new crackdown
The prosecutor’s office said the accounts had been identified as sharing “obscene content” and that the work was carried out to “protect families, children and young people from all forms of abuse.”
The restrictions began on Sep 12 with Kaos GL, Velvele and numerous LGBTI+ organizations, activists and rights defenders. EngelliWeb said the initial decisions included orders issued by the İstanbul 7th Penal Judgeship of Peace and the Mersin 4th Penal Judgeship of Peace.
The restrictions expanded on Sep 13 to another 32 X accounts, including LGBTI+ and gender-related university groups.
On Sep 14, blocking orders covered the accounts of Evrensel newspaper, Amnesty International Turkey, Academics for Peace, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), the Ali İsmail Korkmaz Foundation, HAK Initiative, Lawyers for Justice and UMUT-SEN, as well as journalists Özlem Akarsu Çelik and Fıstık. (AEK/VK)
