Turkey Has Outsourced Its Censorship to American Companies

Earlier this month, Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford got a notice from X: her account was being blocked in Turkey. She asked the Turkish presidency why and has yet to get an answer. She isn’t the only one.Crawford is one of at least 1,270 accounts Turkish courts ordered X to block in September. X made roughly 90% of them unavailable in Turkey, according to the Freedom of Expression Association. Weeks before X began blocking these accounts in Turkey, Elon Musk declared that “any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.”While American social media platforms show clear outrage when they are banned in other countries, they rarely show the same outrage when Turkey silences its citizens online. These bans and blocks disproportionately hit marginalized communities, particularly those who rely on these platforms to organize, share information, and make their experiences visible. These restrictions reduce the visibility of minority perspectives and encourage self-censorship among LGBTQ+ people, activists, and independent journalists. A democracy depends on people being able to access information, express their views, and participate in public debate. When certain commu...