A coalition of human rights organizations led by London-based free expression group Article 19 on Thursday urged Turkey to stop throttling social media and messaging apps, calling the restrictions a violation of international human rights law.
In a joint statement the groups said X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal were inaccessible in İstanbul for roughly 21 hours starting at 23:45 local time on September 7.
The blackout coincided with a police blockade at the İstanbul headquarters of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) after a local court temporarily suspended the provincial leadership and named a trustee, prompting late night calls to rally.
Police used pepper spray as the trustee was escorted into the building on September 8 and several people were detained, according to wire reports from the scene.
The global observatory NetBlocks separately measured platform restrictions across multiple networks beginning around 20:45 GMT on September 7.
No official explanation had been provided as of September 11, the statement said.
Article 19 warned that Article 60/10 of Turkey’s Electronic Communications Law allows the presidency to order the telecom regulator to restrict communications without a court order in urgent cases and keep them in place for up to 72 hours before judicial review.
The UN human rights office says governments should refrain from internet shutdowns because of their indiscriminate and disproportionate impacts on rights.
Signatories comprise Article 19, Human Rights Watch, the European Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, EuroMed Rights, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and other media freedom and civil society groups.
The groups say Turkey has a pattern of network restrictions during crises, including when Twitter was restricted after the February 2023 earthquakes and when platforms were throttled after a bombing in November 2022.
They note that in March 2025, during protests following the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, throttling in İstanbul lasted about 42 hours.
The statement adds that VPNs are not a reliable workaround because many major providers have been blocked in Turkey for years.
The groups argue that such shutdowns isolate the public from vital information, hinder news reporting and suppress political participation at moments of intense public interest.
They call on authorities to cease throttling, end protest-related pressure on media and uphold Turkey’s international free expression obligations.
