- Turkish authorities blocked access to at least 207 accounts on X on Nov. 1-2, while the website of Havadis, a leading newspaper in northern Cyprus, was blocked under two separate court orders issued in Istanbul. News reports published by bianet and Haberes, as well as the X account of women's news agency JINNEWS, were also targeted by access restrictions.
- The restrictions on news outlets and journalists continued during the week of Nov. 2-8, according to the Free Web weekly monitoring bulletin published by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a Turkey-based press freedom organization.
Among the 207 X accounts blocked on Nov. 1-2 were those belonging to television presenter and author Ayşenur Yazıcı, economist Dr. T. Sabri Öncü, retired Col. Orkun Özeller and obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Cem Baykal.
The restrictions reportedly cited Article 8/A of Law No. 5651, Turkey's internet law, with the "protection of public order" given as the justification. The authorities that issued the orders and their decision numbers were not disclosed. X made the vast majority of the accounts inaccessible to users in Turkey.
Northern Cyprus newspaper Havadis blocked under two court orders
The website of Havadis (havadiskibris.com), a newspaper based in Nicosia, the capital of the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, was blocked under two separate court orders.
The Istanbul 9th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ordered the restriction on Nov. 1 under decision No. 2026/10802, while the Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace issued a second order on Nov. 2 under decision No. 2026/10045.
No justification was disclosed for either decision.
Havadis is based in northern Cyprus, a Turkish Cypriot-administered territory whose declaration of independence is recognized only by Turkey.
Access blocked to Haberes reports on historic Kurşunlu Complex
The Eskişehir 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked access to two news reports by Ayhan Aydıner, editor-in-chief of local news outlet Haberes, concerning the historic Kurşunlu Complex and tenders involving Turkey's Directorate General of Foundations.
The restrictions were announced on Nov. 3. Neither the decision number nor the justification was disclosed.
The blocked reports were titled "The Profit-Making Scheme Behind the Kurşunlu Complex Controversy: Tailor-Made Tenders From the Foundations Directorate!" and "How Did a Building Donated to the Foundations Directorate for a Dormitory Become a Luxury Hotel?"
The reports were published on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, during a dispute over the historic complex in Eskişehir, a city in western Turkey. The complex, which had been used by the Odunpazarı Municipality, was vacated following a formal notice from the Regional Directorate of Foundations.
İbrahim Arslan, a YENİ Party lawmaker representing Eskişehir, criticized the restrictions.
"You can block access to the news reports, but you cannot silence the questions the public is waiting to have answered!" Arslan said.
YENİ Party Deputy Chair Utku Çakırözer also condemned the decisions, saying, "You cannot cover up these questions with access-blocking orders!"
Odunpazarı Mayor Kazım Kurt said those who had taken the complex away from the public were now seeking to silence journalists reporting the truth about the dispute.
bianet report on Dersim blocked five months after publication
The Erzincan Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked access on Nov. 5 to a bianet news report by editor Evrim Kepenek that had been published nearly five months earlier, on June 9, 2026.
The report, titled "New Allegations Emerge in Dersim as Gülistan Doku Investigation Continues," included accounts from students who said, "We do not feel safe."
Dersim is the historical name commonly used for Tunceli, a province in eastern Turkey. The report concerned allegations emerging amid the continuing investigation into the disappearance of university student Gülistan Doku.
In an email notification sent to bianet, Turkey's Cybersecurity Presidency cited Article 8/A of Law No. 5651 as the legal basis for the restriction.
The notification listed the protection of the right to life, personal and property safety, national security and public order, as well as crime prevention and the protection of public health, as grounds for the decision.
It also demanded that the access restriction be implemented within four hours.
Neither the court order nor its reasoning was formally served on bianet.
JINNEWS' Turkish-language X account blocked
Access to the Turkish-language X account of women's news agency JINNEWS (@JinnewsTrk) was blocked in Turkey on Nov. 5.
A notice displayed on the account stated that it had been withheld in Turkey "in response to a legal demand."
The authority responsible for the decision and the grounds for the restriction were not disclosed.
JINNEWS has faced repeated restrictions on its X accounts. On Aug. 15, its account under the username @Jinnewstrkc was blocked, marking the eighth access restriction recorded against the agency.
Ten domains belonging to digital libraries blocked
The Giresun Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked access to 10 domain names associated with the digital libraries Anna's Archive, Library Genesis (LibGen) and RandomBook.
The restriction was issued under decision No. 2026/6081, dated Nov. 4.
Neither the justification for the decision nor the identity of the party requesting the restriction was disclosed.
Nine dating and social networking platforms blocked
The Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace blocked access to nine dating and social networking platforms under decision No. 2026/10137, dated Nov. 4.
The affected platforms were OkCupid, Feeld, GROWLR, Zoe, Lex, Bindr, u4Bear, Disco and TheBlowers.
The court did not disclose the legal provision or justification underlying the restrictions.
