Rights groups urge social media platforms to resist Turkish orders to block accounts

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — More than a dozen human rights groups urged social media platforms, including X, on Monday to resist Turkish court orders blocking hundreds of accounts belonging to journalists and activists.

The 21 organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Article 19, also called on the Turkish government to stop issuing the blocking orders, which they say violate freedom of expression.

Over the past weeks, Turkish authorities have ordered social media platforms to withhold accounts belonging to independent media outlets, journalists and academics as well as LGBTQ groups and other nongovernmental organizations.

The government has cited public safety concerns to justify the restrictions.

“Social media platforms should take meaningful steps immediately to uphold their human rights responsibilities and avoid contributing to suppressing independent media and violating the right to freedom of expression,” the groups said in a joint statement. “The Turkish authorities should stop issuing blocking orders to restrict content and accounts on social media and websites in violation of the right to freedom of expression.”

The statement said Turkish authorities ordered X to block access to at least 1,270 accounts.

The rights groups said they were especially concerned by the barring of access to the independent news site T24.

“Blocking T24, one of Türkiye’s biggest and oldest remaining independent news outlets, is particularly troubling,” the statement said, using the Turkish government’s preferred spelling for Turkey. “The order cited preventing crime and protecting public order as grounds for the measure but provided no explanation about how the cited content posed a threat to either objective.”

There was no immediate response from the Turkish government or from the social media platforms.

In August, however, Elon Musk’s X said it had been forced to comply with Turkish orders but was challenging them in court. The platform was responding to criticism over previous compliance with a Turkish order to block an account belonging to the imprisoned mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu.

“Not complying with these orders can trigger severe sanctions, including throttling of the entire platform in Türkiye,” X said through its Global Government Affairs channel. “X challenges these orders in court because we believe keeping the platform accessible in Türkiye is vital to supporting freedom of expression and access to information.”

The statement came as journalists reporting on a recent Turkish investment fund scandal — which has implicated a senior figure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party — are also faced with increased pressure.

Last week, two journalists were arrested for allegedly spreading misinformation over the scandal while two others were placed under house arrest.

The government has promised to bring anyone responsible for the scandal to justice.