Turkey blocks X account of free speech advocate

Turkey has blocked the X account of Yaman Akdeniz, a digital rights expert and founder of the Freedom of Expression Association, for users in Turkey, internet censorship monitor EngelliWeb said Thursday.

EngelliWeb said the block cited protection of national security and public order. Akdeniz wrote on X that the platform's global government affairs team had withheld his account in Turkey and that he had not been given the decision or reasons for it.

The move follows a series of social media account closures that began with LGBTQ organisations on September 12 and later spread to journalists, media outlets, women's groups, human rights groups and media freedom advocates.

The We Will Stop Femicides platform, known as KCDP, said Tuesday that its X account had also been shut down. The group monitors gender violence in Turkey, where official femicide figures are not published.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek also announced Thursday a new unit to monitor digital environment security and combat disinformation. He said specialist prosecutors would be set up at courthouses across Turkey to monitor allegedly criminal content on digital platforms and speed up proceedings against unlawful content.