Turkey has imposed a ban on access to Twitch, one of the most popular live streaming platforms in the country.
Turkey’s Telecommunications Authority (BTK) decided to ban Twitch upon a notification from the General Directorate of the National Lottery (Milli Piyango) on Thursday, an announcement on the BTK website showed.
Although the exact reasons for the ban were not disclosed by the authorities, media reports speculate that the measure was taken in response to the platform’s broadcasting of casino-style gambling, which is illegal in Turkey.
This was not the first time the government has blocked access to popular social media platforms. X, formerly Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have all been subjected to restrictions. Most recently, Ekşi Sözlük, one of the country’s most popular social media websites, was blocked by the BTK for the “protection of national security and public order.”
Turkey, where internet freedom has steadily declined over the past decade, ranks among the “not free” countries concerning online freedoms, according to a report released by the US-based nonprofit Freedom House in October.