Turkey restricts social media following arrest of president’s main rival

Summary: Turkey has restricted access to major social media platforms like X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok after the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a political rival of President Erdoğan. Users across the country faced difficulties accessing these platforms, with many reporting slow connections and failures to log in. The government has not officially acknowledged the restrictions, which come amidst widespread protests against İmamoğlu’s arrest.

Affected: Turkish social media users and platforms

Keypoints :

• Access to social media platforms was severely disrupted following the detention of a major political figure.
• Many users faced issues with logging in and content sharing, particularly affecting platforms like Instagram, X, and YouTube.
• The opposition party condemned the arrest as an assault on democracy, coinciding with protests despite government-imposed bans.
• This incident reflects a pattern of social media restrictions during political unrest in Turkey.