T24
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Search complete. 16 mentions across 7 episodes found for "T24".
Oct 15, 2026
Hannah Lucinda SmithCORRESPONDENT
Um, we've seen, you know, Halk TV as only the latest outlet to be shut down just a couple of weeks ago.
Hannah Lucinda SmithCORRESPONDENT
T24, another, um, opposition outlet shut down as well.
Hannah Lucinda SmithCORRESPONDENT
Um, and, uh, also the CHP, the, what was the main opposition party, their head removed, replaced with the former head who's now just parroting the government line.
Hannah Lucinda SmithCORRESPONDENT
So I think any kind of facade that there were elements of democracy left have really been stripped away.
AshleighHOST
Most outlets covered all of this when the majority of the arrests happened in mid-September, but the story does not stop there.
AshleighHOST
Earlier this week, as we record this, so on October 5th, an independent website called T24 was taken down by order of an Istanbul court for publishing LGBTQ plus propaganda.
AshleighHOST
According to prosecutors, T24 had published 118 stories that they considered to be LGBTQ plus propaganda, But of course, a full public list of all 118 articles was not made publicly available.
AshleighHOST
But what T24 have notably done is criticize the Erdogan government.
AshleighHOST
T24 claims that it has been subject to a months-long campaign of defamation, particularly on social media, You know the drill, dozens of sock puppet accounts circulating literally identical claims that T24 has been using their LGBTQ plus related coverage to target the family.
AshleighHOST
News website Erasing 76 Crimes states that this comes, quote, at a time of mounting pressure on critical media through arrests, criminal investigations, broadcast penalties, and court-ordered restrictions on websites and social media accounts.
AshleighHOST
All of which taken together... seems a lot like straight-up authoritarianism, using latent societal homophobia as a cover for the initial moves of suppressing dissent and criticism in the media by pointing at it and saying, hey, look at that.
AshleighHOST
Turkey's potential EU bid has been on the table for literally decades now, but as Christian Wigand, a spokesman of the European Commission, said, a candidate to join the European Union should "...promote and ensure respect for the human rights and dignity of all individuals, irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientation, and stigmatization and discrimination are contrary to the values of the Union." So they're not getting in, right? It's not happening anytime soon.
Bryon MayHOST
"A widening crackdown on LGBT people and expression in Turkey has now seen the government target news outlets and social media accounts on accusations that the affected networks spread LGBT propaganda, in part by reporting on the government's actions." Uh, of course, the access blocking order, which was also published by Turkey's Information and Communication Technology Authority, BTK, cites Article 8/A of the country's internet law and requires implementation within four hours.
Bryon MayHOST
Prosecutors said T24 had published 118 items over the past year that they had considered LGBT propaganda.
Bryon MayHOST
So, uh, that effort by Turkey, of course, widening.
Bryon MayHOST
As we're seeing efforts here to fight back against the dismantling of the rights of trans athletes.
Eli BosnickHOST
So in the name of people feeling safe, the government has arrested dozens of members of LGBTQ advocacy groups.
Eli BosnickHOST
And this week, Istanbul's first criminal court of peace, a lot of ironic names this week, ordered the website and social media accounts of the independent news outlet T24 blocked after authorities found that the outlet had produced 118 pieces of content over the last year that it deemed to constitute LGBT propaganda.
Noah LugeonsHOST
I want to see the fucking, like the gay scale that they're using to determine which ones cross the line on this, right?
Heath EnrightHOST
What are the units? I want to know what these units are.
KarelHOST
...
KarelHOST
the Turkish court has shut down the independent news agency T24, uh, simply because-
Scott JacobsonGUEST
Mm-hmm
KarelHOST
...
KarelHOST
Um, they, they say that's LGBTQIA propaganda, uh, reporting on how badly the gays are being treated.
Scott JacobsonGUEST
We've said that language before.
KarelHOST
Uh, so T24, yeah.
KarelHOST
[laughs] Yes, we have heard that language before.
Bryon MayHOST
Now, over 100 have been arrested, and they have basically shuttered a whole bunch of LGBTQ organizations.
Bryon MayHOST
Earlier this week, I told you about a protest online to get X and Meta or Twitter and Facebook to... unban those LGBTQ organizations because it's so important but this from Yahoo News Turkey says now news site closed for LGBTQ propaganda Turkey's Justice Ministry said Wednesday a court had shut down the website and social media accounts of 100 of T24, a leading independent digital news website, citing it as LGBT propaganda.
Bryon MayHOST
The move came several weeks after authorities launched a major crackdown on the LGBTQ community, raiding gay bars, nightclubs, and the homes of activists and community members with warrants for 162 people.
Bryon MayHOST
As part of the My Family is Safe investigation, the website and social media accounts of online news portal T24, which has produced 118 pieces of content constituting LGBT propaganda over the past year, have been shut down, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
Bryon MayHOST
Turkey's LGBTQ community has increasingly come under pressure from the authorities.
Bryon MayHOST
President Recep Erdogan has described all of this as deviant movement or perverts.
Bryon MayHOST
Speaking to AFP T24's foreign's new desk editor, Buse Sogutflu, confirmed the closure.
Bryon MayHOST
We got the notification an hour ago.
Adam LucenteHOST
In other news, the IRGC said it killed six members of a terrorist cell in the southeast Sistan and Baluchistan province on Thursday, marking the latest in a series of recent security events there.
Adam LucenteHOST
A Turkish court on Wednesday banned the independent news site T24 as the crackdown on dissent there widens.
Adam LucenteHOST
And Turkish authorities seized on Monday an Iranian Caspian Airlines Boeing seven thirty-seven over an allegedly unpaid three point four million debt.
Adam LucenteHOST
[outro music] Thanks for listening to Middle East Minute.