Turkey’s 2024 Internet Censorship Report reveals that access bans were primarily imposed on news reports concerning corruption and misconduct involving public officials. Over the course of a single year, more than 758,000 URLs, along with thousands of news articles and social media contents, were censored.
The report titled “What Do the Data Say? Internet Censorship Report 2024” exposes the scale of digital pressure in Turkey. According to the findings, a total of 758,716 URLs were blocked throughout 2024. These included 740,624 domain bans, 8,762 news articles, 7,218 social media posts, and 1,897 social media accounts. Censorship also extended to Google Maps reviews, mobile applications, and search engine results.
Corruption Reporting Targeted
Prepared by journalist Ali Safa Korkut, the report shows that corruption and irregularities ranked first among the topics of blocked news articles. In 2024 alone, 1,834 news reports under this category were restricted. The fact that 804 of these reports concerned public officials indicates that censorship has increasingly targeted mechanisms of public accountability. Overall, the majority of blocked news stories involved state officials.
Reports on Violence Against Women Also Blocked
The report further notes that 891 news articles on violence against women were blocked in 2024. In 447 cases, the alleged perpetrators were described as individuals close to the government.
Istanbul-Centered Decisions
A total of 288 access ban decisions were issued by 127 different authorities for news content in 2024. That nine of the top ten decision-making bodies were criminal judgeships of peace based in Istanbul points to a growing centralization of censorship.
“National Security” as Justification
While most access bans were initially justified on the grounds of “violation of personal rights,” the justification shifted toward “national security and public order” following the annulment of the former provision by the Constitutional Court. Of the 133 news articles blocked under this justification, 96 were censored after the court’s ruling.
Journalists’ Accounts Also Targeted
Of the 1,897 social media accounts blocked in 2024, 51 belonged to journalists or media organizations. The report emphasizes that censorship is not limited to content alone but also targets journalism itself, which plays a key role in exposing these restrictions.
