X has been ordered to silence one of the most closely watched accounts in Turkish politics. A court has told the platform to restrict access, within Turkey, to the presidential-campaign account of jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
The company is not going quietly. X said it was complying with the order as required by Turkish law but disagreed with it, and has begun legal proceedings to have the restriction overturned.
The account is a significant one. It served as the campaign channel for Imamoglu’s presidential bid and had around 225,000 followers, a platform the opposition has used to keep his candidacy visible while he sits in prison.
The court’s stated reasoning was broad. It cited national security and public order, the kind of catch-all justification that Turkish authorities have repeatedly used to block prominent accounts on the platform.
Imamoglu’s situation gives the order its charge. Widely seen as President Erdogan’s main rival, he was detained in March 2025 in a case that triggered the largest street protests Turkey had seen in more than a decade.
