Joint Response from International Institutions to Internet Censorship in Turkey
21 organizations, including ARTICLE 19 and Amnesty International, issued a joint call demanding an end to restrictions amidst the rise of internet censorship in Turkey.
21 human rights and media freedom organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, published a joint declaration against the recent increase in internet censorship in Turkey, calling on the government to put an end to restrictive measures.
Joint Declaration and Call
21 organizations, including ARTICLE 19, the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, made a joint statement against internet censorship in Turkey.
The organizations called on social media platforms and the Turkish government to end access restriction decisions and restrictive measures that violate freedom of expression.
Blockades in September
According to İFÖD data, access to at least 1,270 accounts on the X platform was blocked in Turkey in September, and the platform complied with most of these decisions.
Among the blocked accounts were independent news sites, rights organizations, LGBTQ+ and women's associations, journalists, and academics.
EngelliWeb and Monitoring Activities
The EngelliWeb account, which documents censorship, and the accounts of Yaman Akdeniz, one of the founders of İFÖD, were also made invisible from Turkey.
EngelliWeb plays a critical role in enabling the public to monitor internet restrictions.
T24 and Bianet Targeted
The website and X account of independent news organization T24 were blocked by a court order.
Organizations such as T24 and Bianet were forced to change their X usernames in order to bypass the imposed restrictions.
Justifications and Operations
The access ban on T24 was implemented by court order within the scope of the "My Family is Safe" operation and based on certain news reports.
Grounds such as national security, public order, and the protection of family structure were put forward in the decisions.
Restrictions on Meta Platforms
Although the majority of access bans covered the X platform, Meta also closed various media and civil society accounts within the scope of the operation.
The Instagram and Facebook accounts of Kısa Dalga, Kaos GL, and the Civil Space Studies Association were made invisible from Turkey.