Turkish court orders access ban on popular news portal over 'LGBTQ+ propaganda'

A Turkish court has ordered access ​to the website and social ​media accounts of independent news ‌portal T24 ​to be blocked over content deemed "LGBT propaganda", the Justice Ministry said on Wednesday. Dozens of people were jailed ‌earlier this month under an investigation targeting LGBTQ+ groups in Turkey, dubbed "My Family is Safe", which the government says is aimed at protecting children and family values.

As part ‌of the investigation, Istanbul's 1st Criminal Court of Peace ordered the blocking of ‌T24's website and social media accounts after authorities found that the outlet had produced 118 pieces of content over the past year deemed to constitute "LGBT propaganda", the ministry said in a ⁠statement. The ​decision was sent ⁠to Turkey's Cyber Security Presidency for implementation.

T24 said it had not yet received official notification of the ⁠access ban and would appeal once it did. Turkish authorities have already blocked access ​to websites and social media accounts belonging to LGBTQ+ associations, activists and independent ⁠media outlets as part of the investigation, including the X account of Amnesty International's Turkey branch.

The crackdown ⁠has ​drawn criticism from rights groups and European officials. The European Union has expressed concern over the arrests and the blocking of websites and social media accounts ⁠and called on Ankara to uphold freedom of expression and media freedom. Human Rights ⁠Watch has said ⁠the crackdown threatens fundamental rights and the rule of law and called on authorities to end the targeting of LGBTQ+ groups ‌and ‌activists.