Social media platform X has blocked access to Bianet, one of the few remaining independent news outlets in Turkey, based on a request from the Turkish government due to its coverage of ongoing protests over the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Turkish Minute reported.
The X accounts of Bianet’s Turkish and English editions have been blocked in Turkey, joining dozens of other social media accounts that have been blocked over the past several days since the detention, arrest, and subsequent removal from office of İmamoğlu and other political opposition figures, Bianet announced on its website.
X has not yet removed Bianet’s account from public view in Turkey. The platform has widely covered the ongoing protests in İstanbul, sparked by İmamoğlu’s detention last Wednesday, March 19, 2025, and spreading to dozens of other provinces, leading to the detention of more than 1,100 people so far.
Journalist Amberin Zaman reacted to the access ban on “one of Turkey’s oldest independent news organizations” on X on Monday, March 24, 2025, criticizing the platform “for caving once again.”
Bianet, which stands for “Independent Communications Network,” was established in January 2000 by journalists. The platform, which focuses on human rights in Turkey, is mainly funded by a Swedish organization. The news outlet, which has more than 360,000 followers on X, is among the few outlets in Turkey that is not under government control.
X has not sent any notification to the platform about the access ban, but the Freedom of Expression Association’s (İFÖD) EngelliWeb initiative detected the ban and said it had been imposed to protect national security and public order.
X announced on Sunday, March 23, 2025, that the Turkish authorities had issued court orders for the closure of more than 700 accounts on the platform, targeting “news organizations, journalists, political figures, students, and others within Turkiye,” due to the ongoing protests.
Describing the Turkish government’s move as “unlawful,” the company said it would defend the right to free speech through the courts. Turkish authorities frequently cite national security concerns or laws against “terrorist propaganda” to justify digital censorship, particularly targeting opposition figures, activists, and independent media.
The latest wave of account blocks follows a broader pattern of platform compliance with Ankara’s escalating crackdown on dissent. In recent months, X has complied with Turkish court orders to block access to hundreds of accounts, including those of journalists, activists, and media organizations.
X claims to defend free speech despite blocked accounts in Turkey; however, Professor Yaman Akdeniz points out that the platform has still withheld hundreds of accounts, despite claiming to object to “multiple court orders.” With the legitimacy of such claims under scrutiny, the tension between content moderation and censorship in Turkey appears to deepen.
