- Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is allegedly suspending opposition accounts in Turkey amid unrest following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival. İmamoğlu was jailed on corruption charges, which he claims are politically motivated.
- Protests supporting İmamoğlu turned into violent riots, with destruction of public property, firebombs thrown and over 120 police officers injured.
- The Global Affairs team for X stated that the company objected to over 700 requests from the Turkish government to block accounts, emphasizing their commitment to defending free speech.
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Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is allegedly suspending opposition accounts in Turkey amid unrest across the country after authorities arrested President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Why are people in Turkey protesting?
On Sunday, March 23, İmamoğlu was set to become the Republican People’s Party (CHP) 2028 presidential nominee. Instead, authorities arrested him on corruption charges. İmamoğlu called the charges politically motivated.
In response, protesters supporting İmamoğlu flooded Turkish streets, holding placards and signs.
The protests turned into violent riots in some areas, with the destruction of public property, firebombs thrown, and more than 120 police officers injured, according to the country’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons to break up the large crowds.
So far, police have detained 1,133 people since İmamoğlu’s arrest at his home.
President Erdoğan’s administration has banned gatherings for four days.
Did X ban some users because of the protest?
Some activists who helped spread information about the gatherings told Politico that X had suspended their accounts in Turkey.
Some have been critical of Musk’s platform for suspending accounts. However, let’s look at the facts.
In August 2024, Musk posted to X: “Freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy. If the truth is suppressed, it is impossible to make an informed voting decision. The degree to which freedom of speech is being undermined around the world is extremely alarming.”
Two years prior, in April 2022, Musk wrote in part: “By ‘free speech,’ I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.”
The U.S. State Department found that Turkey’s government has imposed restrictions “regarding media bias and restrictions on freedoms of assembly, association, and expression, which created an uneven playing field and contributed to an unfair advantage for the incumbent.”
In this case, the incumbent is now President Erdoğan.
On Monday, March 24, the Global Affairs team for X said the company objected to more than 700 requests from the Turkish government to block X accounts belonging to news organizations, journalists, political figures, students, and others within Turkey.
“Providing a platform committed to defending everyone’s right to free speech is paramount at X, and we believe this decision from the Turkish government is not only unlawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country. We look forward to defending these principles through the legal system. X will always defend freedom of speech everywhere we operate,” the Global Affairs team said in a statement.
It’s unclear if any of the accounts that were supposedly suspended in Turkey are back online.
