X sues Turkiye gov’t over demands to shut down hundreds of accounts

Social media platform X has sued Turkiye’s government after it tried to pressure the platform into blocking hundreds of accounts, amid ongoing anti-government protests taking place throughout the country over the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor and key opposition figure Ekrem Imamoglu.

Last week, Turkish security services arrested Imamoglu on allegations of corruption and links to terrorism, in a move widely criticised as a politically-motivated crackdown on Turkiye’s opposition, especially at a time when he was set to be elected as the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) president candidate for the 2028 elections.

Since then, protests have erupted across Turkiye, particularly in Istanbul, with Imamoglu and opposition supporters insisting that the ruling government, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is sidelining democracy. Police have subsequently detained over 1,100 protestors, and Turkish authorities have also been cracking down on dissent online and on social media.

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In an announcement on 23 March, X’s global government affairs department stated: “We object to multiple court orders from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block over 700 accounts of news organizations, journalists, political figures, students, and others.”

It stressed that guaranteeing “everyone’s right to free speech is paramount at X, and we believe this decision from the Turkish government is not only unlawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country. We look forward to defending these principles through the legal system. X will always defend freedom of speech everywhere we operate.”

On Wednesday, the department announced it had followed up on that warning to take legal action, stating that on the previous day “we filed an individual application before the Turkish Constitutional Court challenging an order from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority to block 126 accounts.” It reiterated its stance that “X is committed to protect its users’ rights to free speech globally and we will continue to use all legal avenues available to defend our users’ speech.”

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