Credit: Charles-McClintock Wilson / Shutterstock.com According to a report by Bloomberg on Tuesday, X has concealed around 500 accounts from users in Turkey over the past week, many of which are operated by reporters, economists and academics. The figure is provided by EngelliWeb, a censorship monitoring project operated by the Turkish rights group İFÖD. EngelliWeb states that the blocks were carried out in accordance with court orders on the grounds of national security and public order. However, X has not given a reason for restricting the accounts.
Many users had been talking about a crisis in Turkey’s investment fund market. At the beginning of this month, the country’s market regulator instructed seven fund companies to close 131 funds because some of them had been unable to repay investors who had requested their money. Online, resentment grew quickly over the way the government had handled the situation. On 22 September, İFÖD noted that 194 accounts had been blocked as a result of investigations into posts concerning the financial markets, including those of economists Uğur Gürses and Bilge Yılmaz, and journalist Naz Yavuzarslan.
The prosecutors stated that such posts could frighten investors. On 26 September, at least 80 more were added, including the news site Kısa Dalga. On Monday, EngelliWeb recorded at least 150 more, including two reporters from the daily BirGün and a court reporter from the ANKA news agency. The same restrictions apply to the person recording them.
According to EngelliWeb, last week X hid the account of Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor who co-founded İFÖD and operates EngelliWeb. “I have been fighting Internet censorship for over 30 years and X has notified me without providing the details, or a copy of the blocking decision, or the reasons,” Akdeniz wrote on X. The courts applied Article 8/A of Turkey’s internet law, which allows access to be suspended first, followed by a judge’s approval. Because of the blocking arrangement at the country level, the accounts remain visible everywhere except in Turkey. This initiative is part of a broader effort; since 9th September, hundreds of accounts have been disabled in Turkey, beginning with those of LGBTQ+ groups before moving on to women’s groups, rights organizations and news agencies.
X has at previous times opposed Turkish requests. In March 2025, it declared that the orders to block more than 700 accounts were unlawful. Also, in August, it said it would challenge the ban on the campaign account of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the jailed Istanbul mayor, while complying with the order.
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