Ruşen Çakır Evaluates Access Restrictions and Social Media Bans on X

Medyascope Editor-in-Chief Ruşen Çakır evaluated the blocking of 194 accounts on the X platform—including academics, journalists, and politicians—due to posts related to ongoing funding and "Family is Safe" operations.

Access Restrictions on the X Platform

It was reported that access bans were imposed on numerous social media accounts within the scope of investigations conducted by the Istanbul and Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices. Journalist Ruşen Çakır stated that 194 accounts, including academics, economists, journalists, and politicians, were blocked on the X platform. It was announced that the total number of followers of these accounts reached 12 million.

Blocked Names and Institutions

According to the determinations of the Freedom of Expression Association, it was stated that the number of blocked accounts may increase. Those facing access bans include economist and academic Bilge Yılmaz, academic Veysel Ulusoy, and economic journalist Uğur Gürses. Additionally, it was reported that the accounts of institutions such as Evrensel Newspaper, Amnesty International, and Academics for Peace were also blocked.

Legal Processes and Sanctions

It was stated that decisions made by criminal judgeships of peace were transmitted to the platforms and that the implementation period for the decisions was reduced to two hours. It was noted that in case of non-compliance with the decisions, companies face sanctions such as fines and bandwidth throttling.

Operations and Posts

It was emphasized that a significant portion of the blocks stemmed from posts regarding the funding investigation. It was recorded that as of September 13, access bans were imposed on at least 31 accounts due to posts concerning the "Family is Safe" operation targeting LGBTI+ organizations.