Human Rights Watch (HRW) and 20 other human rights and media freedom organizations on Monday called on Turkish authorities to end what they described as escalating internet censorship after at least 1,270 accounts on the X social media platform were targeted by access-blocking orders in September.
In a joint statement the organizations also urged X, Meta and other social media companies to challenge disproportionate restrictions, provide affected users with court decisions and restore access to accounts blocked without sufficient justification.
The statement, signed by HRW, ARTICLE 19, Turkey’s Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and 16 other organizations, expressed concern about restrictions targeting independent media, journalists and civil society groups.
According to figures compiled by İFÖD, Turkish authorities ordered access blocked to at least 1,270 X accounts with a combined following of 35 million in September alone. X complied with at least 90 percent of the orders by making the accounts inaccessible to users in Turkey.
The restrictions affected independent news outlets, academics, journalists, women’s rights groups, LGBTQ+ organizations and other human rights defenders. Among those targeted were the soL Haber and Mezopotamya Ajansı news outlets, Amnesty International’s Turkey branch, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and the LGBTQ+ rights organization Kaos GL.
The statement highlighted the blocking of T24, a major independent news website, as an example of the restrictions.
On September 29, a Turkish court ordered access blocked to T24’s website and its X account, which had 1.9 million followers, citing 118 articles published by the outlet. The website has been inaccessible in Turkey since September 30.
The court claimed the articles were aimed at weakening Turkey’s family structure and could adversely affect minors’ development concerning sexual orientation and gender identity. The organizations said the order failed to explain how the articles threatened public order or why blocking an entire news outlet was necessary.
T24 subsequently changed its X username to avoid the restriction, but another blocking order targeted its new account. Bianet, an independent news outlet focusing on human rights, also changed its X username after its account with 400,000 followers was blocked.
Some restrictions were linked to investigations targeting LGBTQ+ rights activists and associations. Websites and social media accounts belonging to at least 96 organizations and individuals were blocked on similar grounds, according to the statement.
The restrictions have also affected groups monitoring censorship. X withheld accounts belonging to İFÖD, its co-founder Yaman Akdeniz and its EngelliWeb project, which tracks websites and social media accounts blocked by Turkish authorities.
Meta has also restricted access in Turkey to Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to several media and civil society organizations, including the Kısa Dalga independent news outlet, Kaos GL and the Civic Space Studies Association, the statement said.
Most of the recent blocking orders relied on Article 8/A of Turkey’s Internet Law, which allows urgent restrictions on online content on grounds including national security and public order, subject to subsequent court review.
The organizations said many orders failed to identify the specific content considered unlawful or explain why restricting entire accounts was necessary. Affected users frequently received notifications that their accounts had been withheld without being given the underlying court decisions, making it difficult to challenge the restrictions.
On July 31 legislation transferred certain powers previously held by Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority to the Cybersecurity Directorate, a government body attached directly to the presidency.
The statement also cited a September 24 announcement by Justice Minister Akın Gürlek establishing specialized prosecution units to monitor suspected criminal activity online, including the dissemination of disinformation.
HRW said it had contacted X and Meta seeking comment about their compliance with recent Turkish blocking orders. Neither company had responded by the time the statement was published.
This article is republished from the Stockholm Center for Freedom.