The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) has filed an objection against a court decision blocking access to a post about a news report on the alleged cancellation of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s university diploma. MLSA criticized the legal basis for the block, arguing that Turkish authorities had shifted to citing “national security” concerns under Article 8/A of the Internet Law after the Constitutional Court annulled the previously used Article 9 on protecting personal rights.
The post in question was published by MLSA’s Free Web Turkey project on X (formerly Twitter) and included references to academic Yasin Çetin, one of the individuals behind the news report, and his reported ties to TÜGVA — a pro-government foundation with links to Turkey’s ruling AKP. At the request of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), Istanbul’s 11th Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked access to the post citing national security and public order concerns under Article 8/A of the Internet Law.
In its objection submitted to the Istanbul 12th Criminal Judgeship of Peace, MLSA argued that citing national security instead of personal rights as a justification for the access ban was unlawful. The group noted that after the Constitutional Court struck down Article 9 of the Internet Law last year, Turkish authorities could no longer use alleged violations of personal rights as grounds for restricting content. MLSA accused the BTK of abusing its authority by turning to another legal article to justify censorship, calling it a “circumvention of the law.”
The objection emphasized that the content in question was purely journalistic and served the public’s right to be informed, stating: “It is not possible for the announcement of a news report to threaten national security. A blocking decision issued 47 days after the post cannot be considered an urgent matter under public order criteria.”
MLSA also argued that the access block constitutes a violation of press freedom and freedom of expression, and called for the decision to be overturned.
