Social media platform X says it is challenging block of jailed Istanbul mayor’s account
GCC News
An announcement by X that it is challenging a request to ban imprisoned Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu’s presidential candidacy account in Turkey has been met with scepticism by digital campaigners.
The account, created to support Imamoglu’s candidacy for the next presidential election, was first blocked in Turkey late last month following a government request.
In a post on X on Wednesday, the company said Turkish laws “force” them to comply with the order last week, at risk of Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) “throttling” the site’s access in the country.
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“Although Turkey’s laws force us to comply with the order, we are challenging the order in court and, in the spirit of full transparency, are sharing the court order,” it said, posting a copy.
Imamoglu’s main X account, which had nearly 10 million followers, was blocked in Turkey in May 2025 under a similar order from the government, which X also said it had challenged in the courts.
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Meta and YouTube have also complied with requests from the Turkish government to block accounts and content associated with Imamoglu.
Yaman Akdeniz, founder of Turkish freedom of expression organisation IFOD, said he was sceptical of the willingness of the site, owned by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk, to actually challenge the Turkish authorities.
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