Evrensel cannot be censored: Access to our X account has been blocked under “national security”
Evrensel has become one of the latest targets of the digital censorship carried out by the government in tandem with its "My Family is Safe" operations, that target human rights and LGBTI organizations and rights advocates.
One of the latest targets of the digital censorship carried out by the AKP government, in tandem with operations launched yesterday against human rights and LGBTI organizations, as well as numerous rights defenders, under the banner "My Family Is Safe", was the X (Twitter) account of our newspaper, Evrensel.
Following a wave of access blocks that began on September 12, on the anniversary of the fascist coup, an additional 32 X accounts, including those of LGBTI communities at universities, were blocked on September 13.
On monday, numerous X and Instagram accounts including those of our newspaper Evrensel, Amnesty International, Academics for Peace, and the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) were blocked pursuant to Decision No. 2026/9112 dated September 13, 2026, issued by the Bakırköy 4th Criminal Court of Peace.
The decision was based on Article 8/A of Law No. 5651, citing the grounds of "protecting national security and public order."
The blocking order has not yet been enforced by X.
"If it goes into effect, we will announce our new accounts"
Hakkı Özdal, Editor-in-Chief of Evrensel, stated, "The Cybersecurity Presidency has requested that our newspaper’s X/Twitter account be blocked, and the relevant company has also notified us. For now, access to the ‘@evrenselgzt’ account remains available from within the country. However, should the censorship actually take effect, we will announce our new accounts."
We call on our readers to strengthen our solidarity
As Evrensel, we have never yielded to any pressure throughout our 31-year publishing history, which we have sustained with the strength we draw from our readers to tell the truth about Turkey. From the day we were founded, we have stood firm against seizures and closures. We did not back down when our reporter Metin Göktepe was murdered by police or when our office was shot up. We stood firm through investigations, lawsuits, advertising boycotts, and fines, united in solidarity. We call on our readers to strengthen their solidarity, subscribe to the newspaper, and follow our accounts on all social media platforms.
