The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) published its censorship report for the week of 12-18 October. According to the report, after a trustee was appointed to Halk TV and its broadcasts were halted on 14 October, access was blocked to the channel’s YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram accounts, which had a combined following of more than 8.5 million. The same day, access was also blocked to the Workers’ Party of Türkiye’s X account with 582,000 followers, Mezopotamya Ajansı’s X account and journalist Ahmet Nesin’s Instagram account. Access was blocked to Azadîya Welat newspaper’s Instagram account on 17 October and journalist Bahadır Özgür’s X account on 15 October. Bakırköy 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked nine reports on Justice Minister Akın Gürlek’s assets in a single decision. Access was also blocked to BirGün and Kısa Dalga reports concerning Ahmet Şık’s parliamentary questions about the fund crisis. On 16 October, T24 took the access blocks against its website and X account to the Constitutional Court, seeking a finding of rights violations, an interim measure and compensation. T24 General Coordinator Sertuğ Çiçek said the Press Advertisement Agency cut the newspaper’s official advertisements after the access block. Twenty-one human rights and media freedom organizations, including MLSA, called for the access blocks to be lifted. Parliamentary motions submitted by the DEM Party and YENİ Party concerning press freedom were rejected with AKP and MHP votes.
19 October 2026
MLSA