The Bakırköy 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ordered the blocking of dozens of X and Instagram accounts on 13 September 2026, in decision no. 2026/9112. The Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), which monitors blocking orders through its EngelliWeb project, published the list on 14 September.
The order was issued under Article 8/A of Internet Law No. 5651, citing the protection of national security and public order. Article 8/A is the expedited procedure, allowing access to be restricted on request with judicial confirmation afterwards.
The accounts include those of Amnesty International’s Turkey branch, the daily newspaper Evrensel, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), and Academics for Peace. Also listed are Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, journalists Fırat Fıstık and Özlem Akarsu Çelik, human rights lawyer Eren Keskin, Kaos GL editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar, the Ali İsmail Korkmaz Foundation, women’s organisations, trade unions and lawyers’ groups. İFÖD lists a further set of accounts blocked under the same decision on obscenity grounds.
Yaman Akdeniz, co-founder of İFÖD, said on 14 September that X had rendered the Amnesty Türkiye and MLSA accounts invisible from Turkey almost immediately.
Evrensel’s editor-in-chief Hakkı Özdal said X had informed the newspaper that the Cybersecurity Presidency requested the blocking of its account, that the account remained accessible from inside Turkey, and that the paper would announce new accounts if the block took effect.
Academics for Peace is a network formed around a 2016 petition calling for an end to military operations in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. It was signed by 2,212 academics, of whom the group says 406 were dismissed from public service under emergency decrees.
The order follows two earlier waves. On 12 September the accounts of more than a dozen LGBTI+ organisations and activists were restricted, and on 13 September a further 32 X accounts, including university LGBTI+ and gender studies groups. Gazete Oksijen puts the total for the earlier waves at 73 accounts.
These measures accompany the police operations begun on 13 September under the name “Ailem Güvende”, in which more than 60 people were detained. On 14 September a court in İzmir remanded 16 of 18 detainees on allegations including obscenity and facilitating prostitution, released two under judicial control, and six remained sought. In Ankara, procedures continued for 21 people detained in the investigation concerning Kaos GL.
In March 2025, following the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the authorities sought the blocking of more than 700 X accounts. X described those orders as unlawful and applied to the Constitutional Court over orders covering 126 accounts.
A provision designed for urgent threats to national security has been applied to a national newspaper, to the Turkish section of an international human rights organisation, and to a network of dismissed academics.
