Turkey Blocks LGBT Accounts, Detains 26 in Raids
Turkey Blocks LGBT Accounts, Detains 26 in Raids
The News
Turkey is squeezing its LGBT groups on two fronts at once: online and in their offices.
Accounts belonging to more than a dozen Turkish LGBT organizations have been blocked on X at the request of Turkish authorities, a watchdog said Saturday, according to CTV News. The authorities behind the requests advocate traditional family values.
A day later, prosecutors said 26 people had been detained and the offices of six LGBT associations searched in a series of raids, Reuters reported. Prosecutors said the raids followed allegations of prostitution and obscenity.
Timeline
A watchdog says X has blocked the accounts of more than a dozen Turkish LGBT organizations at the request of Turkish authorities, CTV News reports.
Turkish prosecutors say 26 people have been detained and the offices of six LGBT associations searched in raids tied to allegations of prostitution and obscenity, Reuters reports.
Reactions
Turkish prosecutors justified the raids by pointing to allegations of prostitution and obscenity.
The account blocks were sought by authorities who, per CTV News, campaign on traditional family values.
The watchdog that flagged the blocked accounts treated them as a censorship action against Turkish civil society groups.
What's Next
The immediate question is what happens to the 26 people detained — whether prosecutors file charges or release them.
The second question is X's. The platform acted on Turkish government requests, and its handling of those requests is the kind of decision that draws scrutiny from free-speech advocates in the United States and Europe.
More
Withholding accounts at a government's request is a standing feature of how global platforms operate inside countries with speech restrictions: the company complies locally rather than lose access to the market. That trade-off is why a single blocking order in Turkey turns into an American free-speech argument.
Poll
Should X comply with government requests to block accounts?
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