X has blocked access to jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s account (@ekrem_imamoglu) in Turkey, the Directorate of Communications Center for Countering Disinformation (DMM, @dmmiletisim), a unit of the Turkish presidency’s Communications Directorate, said on May 8.

The social network said it took the action in response to an order of an Istanbul court, which issued a ruling on a petition submitted by the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office. It added that it had filed a legal challenge against the order.

In its statement, DMM referred to articles in the local penal code as providing legal reasoning for the block aimed at Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief political rival, widely viewed as having been targeted with politically-motivated charges.

Imamoglu’s English-language account (@imamoglu_int) is still accessible in Turkey.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), of which Imamoglu is a member, was reported by Reuters as telling reporters after meeting Imamoglu in prison that blocking the mayor's X account was the "digital pillar of the coup" mounted to stop Turkey electing the president it wants, namely Imamoglu. He added that Imamoglu's messages from prison would be posted on a different X account.

“Take your diploma and come”

In his latest tweet, Imamoglu called on people to gather in front of Istanbul University at 20:30 local time on May 7.

“Take your diploma and come,” he wrote.

He also shared a copy of the university diploma he received from Istanbul University. On March 18, a day before his detention, the university annulled the diploma citing technical reasons said to disqualify it.

A four-year bachelor’s degree is required by anyone wishing to run as a presidential candidate in Turkey, according to local legislation.

Erdogan has served as president since 2014. However, he has failed to provide a copy of a certified diploma, such as Imamoglu shared on X.

Ekrem Imamoglu’s certified university diploma.

Erdogan studied accounting at a three-year vocational school.

Number of followers rises

After his account was blocked, the number of Imamoglu’s followers on X rose to 9.7mn from 9.5mn.

According to the Freedom of Expression Association’s EngelliWeb (@engelliweb) project, Turkey has blocked millions of websites, social media accounts and web pages, offering news and a wealth of other material, since the 2007 introduction of the country’s "Internet law".

Virtual private network (VPN) services, which allow access to blocked web content, are widely used in Turkey.