By a decision dated September 13, 2026, and numbered 2026/9112, Bakırköy 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked access to numerous X and Instagram accounts, including those belonging to Evrensel newspaper, Amnesty International Turkey, Academics for Peace and the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA). The Freedom of Expression Association’s list also included Lawyers for Justice, Purple Solidarity, the Labour Party of Turkey (TİP) LGBTİ+ Bureau, Kaos GL, Women’s Defense, UMUT-SEN, the HAK Initiative, Trauma Studies and the Ali İsmail Korkmaz Foundation. The accounts of journalists Barbaros Altuğ, Fırat Fıstık, Özlem Akarsu Çelik, Sena Yazıbağlı, Yıldız Tar and Tamer Doğan were also blocked. Evrensel called for solidarity and subscriptions, stating that the decision had not yet been implemented on X. It was stated that the blocks followed decisions targeting LGBTQ+ accounts on September 12 and 13.
Why it matters
The decision affects not only individual users but also the channels through which news organizations, rights groups, professional and social movement organizations, and journalists reach the public via social media. The presence of actors working in different fields on the list shows that the access block concerns a broader community in terms of access to news, freedom of expression and opportunities for organizing. The fact that the decisions followed previous access blocks targeting LGBTQ+ accounts raises the question of whether the practice is expanding to similar groups of content and accounts. Evrensel’s statement that the decision had not yet been implemented on X leaves unclear to what extent and when the same decision will be put into effect on different platforms. The outstanding question is how the decision will change, in practice, the communication and visibility opportunities of the accounts on the list.