Social media platform X (formerly twitter) has suspended accounts belonging to opposition supporters in Turkey following the 19 March arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s main rival. İmamoğlu was taken into pre-trial detention hours on Sunday, while 14.8 million voters went to the polls to nominate him as presidential candidate for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
İmamoğlu’s arrest – widely deemed a “political coup”– sparked nationwide protests which were faced with a violent police crackdown, including at least 1,133 arrests by Monday, despite authorities acting swiftly to impose protest bans, movement restrictions to key demo sites and media blackouts. At least 54 of those arrested have been charged over their social media activity, mainly students, Politica reported, who were accused of ‘inciting violence’ for sharing information on demonstrations.
This development comes despite recent statements from X asserting it has objected to multiple court orders from Turkish authorities to block 700 X accounts and claiming to provide a platform “committed to defending everyone’s right to free speech”. Furthermore X said they believe the government’s attempts at silencing free speech were “unlawful” and “hindered political discourse”.
Previously, Musk had stated that he would cooperate with the incumbent Turkish government, accepting 86 percent of its requests to take down content in the second half of 2024. Turkish authorities filed such requests six times as often as their counterparts in the EU, raising further concern over freedom on the net in Turkey, deemed ‘not free’ in 2024.
The blocking of opposition social media users, reinforcing digital repression as a tool of political control, coupled with mass arrests including students and journalists, has not stopped thousands of protesters from taking to the streets, voting in the primary polls for the dismissed and jailed mayor İmamoğlu, or navigating digital backdoors to find new platforms for expression.
However, censorship of opposition accounts in Turkey by X, owned by Elon Musk – a senior advisor to Trump – raises concerns about potential political interference, especially considering Trump’s past alliance with Erdoğan. Given Musk’s ties to Trump-aligned figures and Trump’s historical support for
