The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) said in its censorship bulletin for 28 September-4 October 2026 that access had been blocked to T24’s website and the X accounts of at least 12 journalists. On 29 September, Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked T24’s entire website and its X account with 1.9 million followers on the allegation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office that 118 items published by T24 constituted “LGBT propaganda” as part of the “My Family Is Safe” investigation. The judgeship initially rejected the request but issued the blocking decision after the prosecutor’s office appealed. T24’s new username was also blocked on 2 October. During the same week, access was blocked to at least 150 X accounts on 28 September, 147 on 30 September, 31 on 3 October and 88 during the night of 4-5 October. The blocked accounts included those of journalists Meral Danyıldız, Sarya Toprak, Esra Tokat, Hikmet Adal, Dinçer Gökçe, Tuğçe Yılmaz, Onur Dalar, Furkan Karabay and Alican Uludağ. The EngelliWeb project account, which documents access blocks, was blocked on 1 October, and the Freedom of Expression Association account was blocked on 5 October. Many economists, academics, lawyers and investors also had their accounts blocked after posting about the fund investigation. A significant portion of the decisions relied on the grounds of protecting national security and public order under Article 8/A of Law No. 5651. Thirteen press and professional organizations, including MLSA, called for the decision against T24 to be lifted and said the access blocks violated press freedom and the public’s right to information.
6 October 2026
MLSA