Turkish court once again blocks access to popular social network Ekşi Sözlük

A Turkish court has once again blocked access to the popular social network Ekşi Sözlük following an appeal made by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).

Thursday March 02 2023 09:14 pm

Duvar English

Just a day after the access ban on Ekşi Sözlük was lifted, the popular social network has been once again blocked.

On March 2, Ekşisözlük announced that the access ban was lifted by the Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace following their objection.

"We are contacting the authorities to implement the decision. We will continue to believe in the law," Ekşi Sözlük.

yaptığımız itiraz ankara 4. sulh ceza hakimliğince kabul edildi ve erişim engelinin kaldırılmasına karar verildi. kararın uygulanması için yetkililerle iletişime geçiyoruz. hukuka inanmaya devam edeceğiz.
— ekşi sözlük (@sozluk) March 2, 2023

However, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) appealed this decision with the higher Ankara 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace, which ruled in favor of the organization and once again blocked access to the dictionary-based discussion forum.

Ekşi Sözlük has been recently targeted by pro-government media outlets over its coverage of the earthquakes.

The Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace had on Feb. 22 ruled for a ban on Ekşi Sözlük's website following an application by the BTK. The decision was based on posts regarding the earthquake.

Journalist İsmail Saymaz later wrote that the decision to block access to Ekşi Sözlük was requested by the Turkish Presidency.