Turkey: why has news website T24 been blocked?
A court in Turkey has ordered news website T24 to be blocked on the grounds that - following the "Ailem Güvende" (My Family is Safe) investigation - some of its content has been classified as "LGBT propaganda". Journalists at T24 suspect that the real goal is to prevent their coverage of the current stock market scandal and the trial of imprisoned Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Other media outlets also question the official explanations.
Questionable motives
Sözcü is unconvinced by the official justification for the ban:
“Operation Ailem Güvende effectively criminalises homosexuality, despite there being no explicit prohibition in our criminal code. ... Dozens of gays, transsexuals and transvestites have been arrested. Among those detained is journalist Tuğba Tekerek. The T24 website and social media account have been blocked. The ban is based on 118 reports and articles published over the past year which allegedly promote LGBT propaganda. ... Can the institution of the family, women and children really be protected by effectively banning same-sex relationships and closing off public spaces to people of different sexual orientations?”
Censorship easier than implementing real policies
With this ban, the state is revealing that it has an odd understanding of security, scoffs Medyascope:
“in the past, security referred to countering armed attacks on schools, IS terrorist attacks, wars, illegal border crossings, organised crime, drugs, economic crises and cyber-attacks. Now the list has become a little longer: T24 news. Words and news articles shared by citizens on social media. Journalism that holds public officials to account. All these things can now be dealt with under the heading of security. ... According to this logic, Turkey could well become the safest country in the world. It's easier than preventing femicides. Easier than investigating allegations of corruption. Easier than tackling the root causes of the economic crisis.”