A Turkish court has issued an order blocking access to the X account of the social media company’s AI-based chatbot Grok, citing the need to protect national security and public order, the EngelliWeb project (@engelliweb) reported on September 11.

Which court issued the yet-to-be-applied ruling was as yet unknown. Grok (@grok) wrote that it learned of the ruling from EngelliWeb and that it was still accessible from Turkey.

EngelliWeb is a project of the local Freedom of Expression Association. It looks into internet bans announced in the country.

World first

In July, an Ankara court blocked access to some of Grok’s tweets over insults it said were directed at Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As a result, Grok became the first generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot targeted by prosecutors in Turkey for allegedly insulting Erdogan, a serious criminal offence in Turkish law.

Latest developments mean that Turkey has now become the first country to block access to Grok's X account, Yaman Akdeniz (@cyberrights), an academic who works on internet rights, wrote in a tweet.

In July, Turkey became the first country to block access to Grok's individual posts, Akdeniz also noted.

Million+ web addresses

The number of web addresses blocked by Turkey rose to 1.26mn at end-2024 from 0.95mn at end-2023, according to EngelliWeb’s annual report.

The country introduced its internet legislation in 2007. Virtual private network (VPN) services, which allow access to blocked web content, are widely used in Turkey.

No need for court ruling

Since 2007, as many as 852 different institutions in the country have issued rulings to block access to web addresses.

In 2024 alone, a record 0.31mn web addresses were blocked, up from the previous record of 0.24mn set in 2023.

Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) was behind rulings that blocked access to 0.25mn web addresses in 2024, while the country’s football federation, TFF, blocked 50,120 addresses.

Of blocked web addresses last year, only 938 were blocked by court rulings.

Dating apps and e-SIM providers also in crosshairs

In August, the head of the BTK blocked access to 29 dating apps, including Tinder, Azar and LivU.

Dating apps Tango and IMVU had previously been blocked and were using alternative domain names. Hornet, which serves LGBTI+ people, has been blocked since 2021.

In July, the BTK blocked access to at least 35 e-SIM providers.