Elon Musk’s X continues to take an uneven approach to government removal requests, with the platform suspending several accounts belonging to opposition figures in Turkey, as the Turkish government looks to quell unrest.
The recent arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who’s considered to be the main political rival of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s, has sparked a range of protest actions across the nation, with the Turkish government now looking to quell the unrest by reducing the capacity for protesters to amplify their messaging.
Which includes their capacity to promote their views on X.
As reported by Politico:
“The majority of the suspended accounts were ‘university-associated activist accounts, basically sharing protest information, locations for students to go,’ Yusuf Can, coordinator and analyst at the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, told POLITICO. Many of these accounts are ‘grassroots activists’ with their followings in the low tens of thousands, said Can.”
X’s compliance with the Turkish government’s request is no big surprise, given that X has previously actioned similar requests from Turkish officials.
In May 2023, X restricted access to a range of Turkish user posts, at the behest of the Turkish government, drawing criticism from free speech activists who viewed this as overt censorship of government criticism ahead of local elections.
Musk defended the action at the time, saying that:
“The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets.”
Last October, X blocked various Turkish news organizations, following a request from local authorities, even though X stated that it objected to the request, and would pursue legal action on behalf of Turkish users.
In some ways, Musk’s defense here is reasonable, in that X either actions these orders, or it faces a ban in the region.
But then again, such censorship flies in the face of Musk’s much-lauded “free speech” ethos, while X has also taken tougher action to oppose similar requests in other nations.
Last year, for example, X was temporarily banned in Brazil for refusing to comply with a similar court order, with Musk also taking the opportunity to criticize Brazilian officials, whom he repeatedly claimed were opposed to free speech.
Even last week, X launched legal action against Indian authorities in another case of perceived local censorship.
Yet, it’s not pushing back again the same in Turkey, even though these requests could have a direct impact on Turkish democracy.
So why the variance in approach?
Once consideration could be that Elon himself has a good relationship Turkish President Erdogan, with Erdogan also looking to build a new Tesla factory in Turkey, and establish local distribution deals for both xAI and Starlink projects.
So maybe, Musk is less likely to push back in regions where his other business projects could be impacted. But then again, both Tesla and Starlink are also looking to expand in India, and the Indian government is renowned for imposing restrictions on businesses based on non-compliance.
As such, the recently launched legal action in India seems like a big risk for Musk’s broader business expansion plans, and it could also be that Musk and Co. don’t want to compound that risk by also damaging his relationship with Erdogan and the Turkish government.
But it once again highlights the variable approach that X has taken to such requests, which raises questions about its dedication to “free speech” and the parameters within how X defines such.
