Musk’s X blocks account of jailed Erdoğan rival

Social media platform X has blocked the account of Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leader of Turkey’s opposition movement and political nemesis of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The block comes at the order of the Erdoğan government, X said in a Thursday post, adding it has challenged the order in court.

“We strongly disagree with the order,” the post by its global government affairs team said. It published both a court order requesting the ban and X’s legal challenge.

X, owned by tech mogul and Donald Trump confidant Elon Musk, has been cooperating with Turkish government requests to block opposition accounts amid widespread protests following İmamoğlu’s arrest in March.

Critics have slammed the platform for having a “double standard,” slamming how Musk proclaims to be a free speech absolutist but also complying with Ankara’s government gag orders. Other Big Tech platforms have also cooperated with similar Turkish government requests in the past.

X said in its post that it risks being entirely shut down in Turkey if it does not comply with the orders.

The firm’s legal challenges to the government orders, including the one blocking İmamoğlu, may take years to conclude; the accounts in the meantime remain blocked.