Access ban decision for Cumhuriyet newspaper's X account

The official X (Twitter) account of Cumhuriyet newspaper (@cumhuriyetgzt), which has 3.4 million followers, has been hit with an access ban by the Elazığ 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace. The grounds for the decision were stated as "national security" and "protection of public order."

According to information shared by the Freedom of Expression Association (EngelliWeb) project, which reports on censorship and access ban decisions on the internet, the main account of the long-established media outlet on the social media platform X has been blocked by court order.

GROUNDS FOR THE DECISION: "NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC ORDER"

The access ban decision, issued in accordance with the Elazığ 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace's decision dated April 29, 2026, and numbered 2026/2312, was based on the "national security" and "protection of public order" clauses in the legal legislation. No detailed information has been shared yet regarding the background of the decision or which specific posts or news reports led to it.

ACCOUNT NOT YET CLOSED

Despite the official access ban decision issued by the court, the Cumhuriyet newspaper's X account has not yet been closed to users in Turkey by the platform.

Whether the X (Twitter) company will implement this decision from Turkish courts and proceed to make the account "invisible" from within Turkey (country-based blocking), or whether the decision will be appealed, will become clear in the coming period.