X said Tuesday that it was ordered to restrict access to the presidential account of Ekrem Imamoglu, seen here running for mayor of Istanbul in 2019. The social media platform said it would challenge the order in court. File photo by Sedat Suna/EPA-EFE
Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Social media platform X said it was challenging a Turkish court order to restrict access to the official presidential candidacy office account of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
X's global government affairs team said in a Tuesday statement that the order requires the platform to block the account in Turkey while leaving it accessible to the rest of the world.
"Although Turkey's laws force us to comply with the order, we are challenging the order in court and, in the spirit of full transparency, are sharing the court order," the team said, adding that it is challenging the order "because we believe keeping the platform accessible in Turkey is vital to supporting freedom of expression and access to information."
Not complying with the order could trigger "severe sanctions," according to X, including throttling the entire platform in Turkey.
