Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Wednesday that authorities blocked 27,304 social media accounts and nearly 7,000 URLs in the first four months of 2025 as part of the government’s expanding digital censorship campaign.
Speaking at a government-hosted workshop in Ankara focused on “synthetic media and disinformation,” Yerlikaya defended the sweeping measures as essential for national security and public order. The event was organized by the Directorate of Communications.
According to Yerlikaya, cybercrime units operating under the national police and gendarmerie “work 24/7” to detect and eliminate online content deemed threatening to social stability or state security. He cited foreign studies showing the viral nature of false information online — including a Science article that claimed fake news spreads six times faster than verified information, and a Stanford study indicating that nearly 70 percent of people fail to identify deepfake videos.
From January to April 2025 alone, 6,765 URLs and 27,304 social media accounts were blocked. Since Yerlikaya assumed his post in June 2023, authorities have flagged 237,753 pieces of online content, resulting in the takedown of 21,214 URLs and 112,854 accounts.
While Yerlikaya did not clarify how many of the blocked accounts were politically affiliated, human rights groups and digital watchdogs say the government’s opaque criteria often target journalists, activists, opposition figures, and even elected officials.
The recent arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — President Erdoğan’s main political rival — has triggered a fresh wave of court-ordered blocks, including the silencing of his X (formerly Twitter) account within Turkey. Other blocked accounts include exiled journalists, opposition news outlets, and civil society groups.
Critics argue that Turkey’s censorship laws — particularly the controversial Law No. 5651 — enable arbitrary takedowns under vague pretexts such as “public order” or “terror propaganda.” The government rarely discloses specific reasons behind each block, and Turkish courts seldom reverse such decisions.
International press freedom organizations, including the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) and EngelliWeb, have documented a surge in takedown orders since March 2025, with many accounts also reporting shadow bans or visibility restrictions imposed by platforms themselves.
Yerlikaya also criticized global tech companies for allegedly censoring pro-Palestinian content while allowing other forms of conflict-related posts to remain. Citing content moderation during the Gaza war and the Rohingya crisis, he accused platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok of “algorithmic imprisonment” of Muslim voices.
“Synthetic media and digital misinformation are now weapons in a broader information war,” he said, calling on states to treat digital crime with the same urgency as terrorism or narcotics trafficking.
Turkey’s aggressive approach to online censorship — including threats of bandwidth throttling and advertising bans for non-compliant platforms — has drawn condemnation from international rights groups. Under Elon Musk’s leadership, Twitter/X has complied with an increasing number of Turkish court requests to withhold opposition content, exacerbating concerns over global platform accountability.
As of early 2025, Turkey remains one of the lowest-ranked countries in global media freedom indices, with digital repression cited as a major factor.
