X faces pressure to reject Turkey’s broad requests to block accounts

On Tuesday, journalism groups called on social platform X not to comply with government takedown orders directed at journalists and media outlets in Turkey that occur outside the course of regular judicial proceedings.

In a joint declaration, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Federation of Journalists and the Turkish Journalists Union reported a surge in access limitations and said X was reportedly complying with demands that lacked adequate judicial oversight.

The groups urged X to scrutinize blocking requests by Turkish authorities to ensure they are supported by independent and clear court decisions and to rebuff overbroad or excessive requests while increasing transparency regarding limitations.

Further requests from administrative authorities, law enforcement agencies and other public bodies should not automatically constitute sufficient grounds to block access to journalists’ or media organization accounts without due process, as reported by the Reuters.

Furthermore, according to the Freedom of Expression Association, courts are verified for only 115 of the 1,270 X accounts whose access was restricted in Turkey in September while the grounds remain undisclosed for blocking the remaining 1,155 accounts.