Turkish authorities are shutting down the T24 portal, accused of publishing LGBT content

Turkish authorities announced on Wednesday the closure of the independent news portal T24, accused of “LGBT propaganda,” as part of the “My Family Is Safe” campaign launched on September 12. The decision was ordered by an Istanbul court of first instance and is to be enforced by the Cybersecurity Directorate.

The Justice Ministry claims that T24 published 118 items last year deemed to constitute LGBT propaganda and that both the portal’s online accounts and its social media accounts have been shut down. T24 reported that it learned of the measure from information published by other media outlets and that it had not been officially notified. On Wednesday, the site was still accessible, while the newsroom was trying to determine whether the decision applied to all of its publications.

The announcement comes after Turkish authorities blocked numerous social media accounts associated with the LGBT+ community and made arrests following protests in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. Homosexuality is not criminalized in Turkey, but it is heavily stigmatized. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly described the LGBT+ community as “perverse.”