The social media accounts of several prominent Kurdish news outlets, including Mezopotamya Agency (MA – http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/en), JINNEWS (https://jinnews.net/en), and Yeni Yaşam (https://yeniyasamgazetesi5.com/), have been blocked in Türkiye / Turkey. Access to these accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and YouTube has been restricted.
The Mezopotamya Agency’s (@MAturkce) X account, which has over 263,000 followers, and its YouTube channel with 148,000 users, were blocked in Turkey following requests from Turkish authorities. Similarly, JINNEWS’s X account (@jinnewsturkce),with over 167,000 followers and Yeni Yaşam X newspaper’s account – Yeni Yaşam Gazetesi (@yeniyasamgazete) with 125,000 followers were also made inaccessible in Türkiye / Turkey. In addition, Yeni Yaşam’s website has faced repeated restrictions, with two blocks imposed in the last month. As reaction JINNEWS opened a new X account: @JinNews_turkce
The blocking of these accounts follows broader concerns about government interference in digital platforms and growing repression of independent media in the country. Press freedom advocates argue that such moves are part of a larger campaign to silence dissent and control information in Türkiye / Turkey highly polarized media landscape.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the blocking of the social media accounts of Mezopotamya Agency, JINNEWS, and Yeni Yaşam, viewing these actions as clear attempts to suppress press freedom and restrict independent journalism in Türkiye / Turkey. Silencing news outlets through social media bans undermines the public’s right to access diverse information and violates fundamental democratic principles. SEEMO will closely monitor these developments and continue advocating for the protection of press freedom and journalists’ rights across the region.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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