Turkey restricts social media amid crackdown on İstanbul mayor
As İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and more than 100 others were detained in a sweeping crackdown, Turkey has imposed widespread restrictions on social media and messaging platforms.
Major platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, X, and TikTok, as well as messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, have been subjected to bandwidth throttling, significantly slowing down access. NetBlocks, a global internet censorship watchdog, has confirmed the restrictions.
There has been no official statement regarding the move. However, social media users report that all major mobile and broadband internet providers in Turkey are enforcing the throttling.
Turkey has previously imposed similar restrictions following events such as bomb attacks and natural disasters.
Under a 2020 social media law, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) can impose bandwidth restrictions for up to 24 hours. Any restriction exceeding 24 hours requires a court order. Courts have 48 hours to respond to requests for bandwith throttling.
İstanbul mayor detained on multiple charges as he prepared to challenge Erdoğan for presidency
(HA/VK)
