Turkish authorities have restricted access to social media and video platforms following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strongest political rival.
According to NetBlocks, a global internet monitoring organization, platforms including X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have been partially or completely blocked by Turkey’s largest telecom providers.
"Confirmed: Current indicators indicate that Turkey has restricted access to a number of platforms and social networks, including X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok," NetBlocks reported.
Judging by outage reports, the Telegram messaging app has also been affected.
Major Telecom Providers Enforce Blackout
The crackdown has impacted users of Turkey’s three largest telecommunications companies: Türk Telekom, Turkcell, and Vodafone Turkey.
The extent of the restrictions varies:
On Turk Telekom, YouTube and Instagram were completely inaccessible.
Telegram access on Turkcell was reduced to just 14%.
Vodafone Turkey also reported major disruptions to Telegram and X.
Some users on Turk Telekom could still upload videos to X and images to YouTube, but only in half of the attempts.
The widespread digital blackout has sparked concerns that the government is attempting to control the narrative and limit public reaction to Imamoglu’s arrest.
Who Is Ekrem Imamoglu
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the 54-year-old mayor of Istanbul, was arrested on March 19, just days before he was expected to be officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Turkish authorities have accused İmamoğlu and around 100 of his associates of embezzling public funds as part of an “organized crime group,” and of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)—a group designated as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.
İmamoğlu’s university diploma was also revoked a day before his arrest.
He has been viewed as one of the most serious challengers to Erdoğan’s rule, particularly following his landslide victory in the 2019 Istanbul mayoral race, which ended Erdoğan’s 25-year political dominance in Turkey’s largest city.
Erdoğan’s administration has previously jailed prominent rivals, including Selahattin Demirtaş, the leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, and Osman Kavala, a well-known philanthropist and political activist.
