Elon Musk’s X platform has reportedly shut down several political opposition accounts in Turkey as the country experiences intense civil unrest. The unrest comes after Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key opposition leader and mayor of Istanbul, was arrested earlier this week. According to Politico, the majority of the suspended accounts belonged to grassroots activists with tens of thousands of followers who were sharing information on protest locations, particularly around universities.
Accounts Targeted by Government Requests
Yusuf Can, a coordinator and analyst at the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, stated that these accounts, largely used for organizing and amplifying protests, were either fully suspended or restricted specifically within Turkey. The crackdown on opposition voices comes amid rising concerns about free speech on the platform, especially in light of Musk’s repeated declarations as a “free speech absolutist.”
X’s transparency report indicates that the platform complied with 68% of Turkey’s government requests to remove content in the latter half of 2024. Turkey has made more requests for content removal than any country except Japan and has outpaced both the EU and North America in terms of takedown requests.
Previous Content Restrictions in Turkey Ahead of Elections
Earlier in 2023, ahead of the Turkish presidential elections, X restricted access to certain content in Turkey to maintain platform availability. Musk responded to criticisms of these actions by offering a stark choice: “The choice is to have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?”
X’s anti-censorship approach, however, has been inconsistent. The platform was temporarily blocked in Brazil when it refused to remove accounts that a judge claimed were threatening Brazil’s democracy. Additionally, Musk’s private jet tracker accounts were blocked, and links to a leaked dossier about Vice President JD Vance were removed. Recently, X also restricted the sharing of links to Signal, an encrypted messaging app popular with journalists.
Author’s Opinion
While Musk positions himself as a champion of free speech, actions like shutting down political opposition accounts in Turkey reflect a different reality. The inconsistency in X’s censorship approach raises serious questions about the platform’s commitment to freedom of expression. If Musk is genuinely dedicated to free speech, he needs to address the contradictions in his platform’s actions, which seem to favor corporate interests and appease government demands, rather than protecting open dialogue. True free speech cannot coexist with selective censorship.
Featured image credit: Finance Monthly
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