Elon Musk’s X has agreed to censor the account of an imprisoned mayor in Turkey, but is strongly protesting the government’s anti-free speech demands.
X followed a legal demand blocking the account of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu within Turkey. Imamoglu is the primary political rival of the country’s dictatorial President Tayyip Erdogan and has been jailed on highly disputed corruption charges. The move on X’s part comes amid large protests in Turkey and controversy over the government’s tyrannical actions. X has since clarified that it is challenging the order, despite complying with it, arguing that Imamoglu’s account should be available in Turkey as it is in the rest of the world.
The X Global Government Affairs account posted on X on May 8, “X received an order to restrict access in Türkiye to the account of the now-detained Mayor of Istanbul. While we have followed Türkiye’s order regarding the account, we strongly disagree with the order and are challenging the order in court. In the spirit of full transparency, we are sharing the court order and our legal filing below.” The post included screenshots and links to the legal documents.
The order, Global Government Affairs stated, came from the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority and required X to censor content within the country that remains available to users outside the country.
“Lack of compliance with these orders can lead to severe sanctions, including throttling of the entire platform in Türkiye,” Global Government Affairs clarified. “X complied with the court order while we challenge the order in court because we believe keeping the platform accessible in Türkiye is vital to supporting freedom of expression and access to information, particularly following natural disasters and other emergencies.”
X is always in favor of “upholding due process,” the account added, so “we carefully review all the requests under the local law. X has been and will continue to object to removal orders including government requests in courts to protect users when those requests do not align with principles of free expression, due process, or other local laws.”
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