CPJ, partners ask Turkey and social media platforms to halt online crackdown on journalists and rights defenders

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday joined 20 local and international partner organizations in a joint statement asking Turkey and social media platforms to stop censoring journalists and rights defenders online by blocking their accounts, and respect the right to free expression. 

The Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) found that in September alone, Turkish authorities and courts ordered the blocking of access to at least 1,270 accounts on the social media platform X, which complied with at least 90% of the orders by geo-blocking the accounts and withholding access in Turkey. 

In many cases, the accounts were blocked in the context of an ongoing and wide-ranging crackdown on associations and activists defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people. In other cases, the authorities cited unspecified “national security and public order” grounds.  

Meta has also withheld access to the Instagram and Facebook accounts of several media and civil society organisations.    

The signatories to the statement asked social media companies to “take meaningful steps immediately to uphold their human rights responsibilities and avoid contributing to the suppression of independent media” and called on Turkey to “take urgent steps to end internet censorship and uphold freedom of expression.”

Read the full statement here