Access block on Ekşi Sözlük citing national security

The social media platform Ekşi Sözlük has been hit with its second access block in 10 days. The domain name eksisozluk1923.com was blocked by a decision of the Ankara 6th Criminal Court of Peace on the grounds of protecting national security and public order. The management of Ekşi Sözlük announced the platform's new address as eksisozluk111.com.

What happened?

The platform was shut down on February 25 following the Maraş earthquakes on the grounds of 'protecting national security and public order.' Ekşi Sözlük appealed, and the access block decision was lifted by the court. However, it was shut down again after the 'objection' before it could even be reopened.

Following this, the platform's management moved the site to other domain names. The first of these, ‘eksisozluk2023.com’, was blocked on May 13, ‘eksisozluk42.com’ on May 15, and ‘eksisozluk1923.com’ on December 14. The 'eksisozluk1999.com' domain name, which the platform's management opened later, was also blocked.

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices of Ankara and Istanbul announced that an ex officio investigation had been launched into the platform due to posts targeting soldiers who lost their lives in the last 2 days. An individual identified as O.K., who was determined to have made insulting posts on social media in Antalya, was taken into custody.

The access block decisions imposed on Ekşi Sözlük are as follows:

February 21, 2023: The domain name eksisozluk.com was blocked by the decision of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) dated February 21, 2023, and numbered 490.05.01.2023.-100029.

February 22, 2023: The access block implemented by the BTK was approved by the decision of the Ankara 4th Criminal Court of Peace dated February 22, 2023, and numbered 2023/1532, on the grounds of protecting national security and public order.

March 2, 2023: Following an appeal, the block on Ekşi Sözlük was lifted by the additional decision of the Ankara 4th Criminal Court of Peace dated March 2, 2023, and numbered 2023/1532.

March 2, 2023: Following an objection to the decision to lift the access block, it was blocked again by the decision of the Ankara 5th Criminal Court of Peace dated March 2, 2023, and numbered 2023/2003.

May 13, 2023: The domain name eksisozluk2023.com was blocked by the decision of the Ankara 6th Criminal Court of Peace dated May 13, 2023, and numbered 2023/4391, on the grounds of protecting national security and public order.

May 15, 2023: The domain name eksisozluk42.com was blocked by the decision of the Ankara 8th Criminal Court of Peace dated May 15, 2023, and numbered 2023/4475, on the grounds of protecting national security and public order.

December 14, 2023: The domain name eksisozluk1923.com was blocked by the decision of the Ankara 6th Criminal Court of Peace dated December 14, 2023, and numbered 2023/13768, on the grounds of protecting national security and public order.

News Source: 12punto