Turkey Imposes Social Media Restrictions Amid Crackdown on Istanbul Mayor

In a sweeping crackdown that has resulted in the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and over 100 others, Turkish authorities have enacted extensive restrictions on social media and messaging platforms, leading to significantly reduced access to major websites and applications, Amu TV reported.

Reports from Turkish media indicate that platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, X, and TikTok, along with messaging services like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, are experiencing bandwidth throttling, as noted by NetBlocks, a global internet censorship monitoring organization.

While the Turkish government has not provided an official statement regarding these actions, users on social media have reported that all major mobile and broadband service providers in Turkey are implementing the slowdowns.

Turkey has a history of imposing similar restrictions in response to significant political events, bomb attacks, and natural disasters. Under the country’s 2020 social media law, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) has the authority to limit bandwidth for up to 10 hours without needing additional approval.