Overview
- X said Tuesday that an Istanbul judgeship ordered the platform to restrict access in Turkey to Ekrem Imamoglu’s presidential candidacy office account and that X implemented the block domestically while lodging court challenges.
- The court order, which X posted publicly, said prosecutors were investigating the account for spreading allegedly misleading information that could disturb public peace and cited national security and public order as reasons for the restriction.
- Imamoglu has been detained since March 19, 2025, is on trial on wide-ranging graft and security-related charges he denies, and his larger personal X account was previously blocked in Turkey in May 2025 under a similar order.
- X says it complies with valid Turkish orders to avoid severe penalties such as throttling of the entire service but is mounting new legal appeals to argue the restriction conflicts with free-expression principles.
- Rights groups and critics view the moves as part of growing state pressure on the main opposition ahead of future elections, and some digital campaigners have publicly questioned X’s track record of enforcing Turkish removal requests even as it challenges this order.