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In this Reclaim The Net article, Cindy Harper reports that a Turkish court ordered X to block the account of Cumhuriyet, Turkey’s oldest newspaper, under a sweeping “national security” provision of the country’s Internet Law.
- Cumhuriyet, which has published since 1924, changed its X handle from @cumhuriyetgzt to @cumhuriyetgzt1 after the Elazığ 2nd Penal Judgeship of Peace ordered its account blocked across Turkey.
- The order relied on Article 8/A of Turkey’s Internet Law, a broad clause allowing restrictions tied to national security, public order, crime prevention, public health, or protection of life and property.
- The court reportedly did not specify which post triggered the order, leaving the paper and the public without a clear explanation for the censorship.
- The Freedom of Expression Association, İFÖD, surfaced the ruling on June 2 and said the official justification was “protecting national security.”
- Cumhuriyet’s workaround was meant to preserve access to its audience of roughly 3.4 million followers, though the original handle was later taken by another account and then suspended by X.
- The article frames the case as part of a broader Turkish censorship pattern, noting that Article 8/A was also used against Kısa Dalga articles about “The Visa Empire,” an investigation into visa-processing firms, alleged monopolies, black-market appointment slots, and political connections.
- Harper argues that the “national security” justification is being stretched to cover journalism that embarrasses or threatens powerful interests rather than genuine security threats.
- The piece notes that Turkey blocked more than 300,000 web addresses in 2024 and that dozens of journalist and media social media accounts have reportedly been blocked since January.
- The article concludes that Cumhuriyet’s renamed account and archived copies of censored reporting show how journalists are adapting to censorship, but also how effective such censorship remains for readers who do not know where else to look.
Read the full story:
https://reclaimthenet.org/turkey-blocks-cumhuriyet-account
