The Financial Times cited data collected by the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) as part of its EngelliWeb project in an article examining Türkiye’s new cyber security framework and the expansion of executive control over online platforms.
Referring to the restrictions imposed during the protests that followed the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the article reported that nearly 1.000 social media accounts with a combined audience of more than 25 million followers had been blocked. The affected accounts included İmamoğlu’s main Turkish-language X account, which had more than nine million followers.
The Financial Times also drew on the assessment of Professor Yaman Akdeniz, one of the founders of İFÖD and a leading digital rights advocate. Akdeniz warned that the transfer of digital oversight powers to the Presidency-affiliated Cybersecurity Directorate was more than an administrative change and described the new structure as “a command centre for Turkey’s digital obedience regime.”
Addressing plans to verify social media users’ ages through Türkiye’s e-government portal, Akdeniz also warned that linking users’ identities to their accounts and posting histories could create a “digital panopticon.”