- According to Free Web’s weekly monitoring of internet censorship covering Sept. 12-20, access to at least 319 websites, social media accounts and pieces of online content was blocked between Sept. 12 and 16. A wave of access restrictions that began as part of an operation dubbed “My Family Is Safe” (“Ailem Güvende”) later expanded to include accounts belonging to journalists, media and human rights organizations, as well as student groups.
Access restrictions that began on Sept. 12 following operations carried out under the name “My Family Is Safe” continued for four days, with courts in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and the southern Mediterranean province of Mersin ordering a total of 319 websites, social media accounts and pieces of online content blocked between Sept. 12 and 16.
The orders targeted not only LGBTI+ organizations but also journalists, rights defenders, media outlets and student groups that posted about the issue.
Websites blocked under the decisions included Kaos GL, CETAD, SPoD, the May 17 Association, Lambdaistanbul, Red Umbrella, Pink Life, Mersin 7 Renk, the Association for Combating Sexual Violence, HEVİ LGBTİ+, ÜniKuir, Velvele, GZone, Boysan’s House and LGBTİ News Turkey.
Between Sept. 14 and 16, access was also blocked to the social media accounts of the daily Evrensel, Amnesty International Turkey, Academics for Peace, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), soL Haber and the Federation of Women’s Associations of Turkey, as well as the accounts of numerous journalists and activists.
173 websites and accounts were blocked under the initial decision.
Court orders issued in Istanbul and the southern Mediterranean province of Mersin on Sept. 12 blocked access to 173 websites and social media accounts, most of them belonging to LGBTI+ organizations.
The restrictions continued with two separate rulings issued on Sept. 13 and 14. A court in Bakırköy, a district on Istanbul’s European side, ordered 73 accounts blocked, while another court in Mersin ordered access blocked to 35 additional accounts, most of them belonging to media outlets and human rights organizations.
On Sept. 15, a journalist was arrested on an “obscenity” charge over a news report he had produced in Georgia about the LGBTI+ movement. During the same period, a documentary was removed from a video platform and access was blocked to a journalist’s social media account.
On Sept. 16, access was blocked to another 33 accounts belonging to media outlets, women’s organizations and left-wing groups on the grounds of “national security” and “public order.”
357 access blocks on capital market-related posts
In a separate investigation carried out during the same week, access was blocked to at least 357 accounts and links on Sept. 17 and 19 over what authorities described as “speculative” posts concerning capital market instruments.
Under one of the orders, around 75 social media posts were also removed.
Joint Statement from MLSA and rights organizations
The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and organizations working on press freedom and human rights called for the release of jailed journalists and the lifting of access restrictions in a joint statement published on Sept. 18.
The statement said at least 116 people had been detained since Sept. 12 and that 82 people, including 44 rights defenders, had been formally arrested and jailed pending trial. The organizations also warned that the seizure of journalists’ phones and computers could jeopardize the confidentiality of their news sources.
Student groups and rights defenders whose accounts were blocked also called for the restrictions to be lifted, while European institutions and international human rights organizations voiced concern over the operations and access bans.
In Turkey’s parliament, an opposition lawmaker also submitted a parliamentary question asking the vice president to explain the legal basis for the access restrictions and detentions and to identify which authority had requested the orders.
