Supporters of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu launched a viral online protest on Thursday after the social media platform X blocked his account based on a court order, flooding the platform with artificial intelligence–generated avatars of the opposition politician depicted as cultural, historical and fictional figures.
A statement published by the Disinformation Combat Center said on Thursday that İmamoğlu’s account was blocked after an investigation was launched by İstanbul prosecutors into a post made on his account on April 24.
That post was found to be a reason to block the account on suspicion of “public incitement to commit a crime,” according to the statement.
İmamoğlu, the strongest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate who has been in pretrial detention on corruption charges since March 23, had nearly 10 million followers on X. He had been actively using the account through his lawyers to reach out to his supporters since his arrest.
The blocking of his account on Thursday triggered an immediate digital backlash. Within hours, thousands of users began sharing AI-generated images of İmamoğlu as a wide array of figures, from ancient Roman emperors like Marcus Aurelius to the popular science fiction action film “The Matrix” protagonist Neo to a Metallica rock band frontman. He has also been portrayed as a pope, a character from “La Casa de Papel,” a Spanish heist television series and even as Stella, a fictional character from the “Winx Club” animated series.
Ekrem Aurelius#Ekremİmamoğlu#YeniProfilResmi pic.twitter.com/FHmEzfYpR5
— Neyir Hokkacı (@NeyirH) May 8, 2025
The hashtag #İmamoğluHerYerde# (“İmamoğlu is everywhere”) began trending rapidly as users changed their profile photos to the AI avatars, portraying him as omnipresent despite both his imprisonment and digital censorship he has been subjected to.
Trash @ekrem_imamoglu pic.twitter.com/nwMWBtkZiT
— Onur imaro Boykot (@metabolizm_aa) May 8, 2025
X, in a post from its Global Government Affairs team, confirmed it had received the court order and was challenging it.
“We strongly disagree with the order,” the company said, posting both the court decision and its response. X also warned that failure to comply could result in “severe penalties,” including potential restrictions on its operations in Turkey.
The protest gained momentum after users who changed their profile pictures to İmamoğlu’s likeness reported account limitations, further fueling public anger and accusations of government censorship. Critics called the response part of a broader pattern of digital suppression and erosion of free expression in Turkey.
küçükken hep winx kavgası yapardık herkes stella olurdu ben ekrem imamoglu olurdum pic.twitter.com/nQ1OnQgceu
— simge (@bonesofdionysos) May 8, 2025
The wave of AI-generated protest art has been interpreted by many as a digital act of resistance and a powerful show of solidarity with the jailed mayor, who has already become a symbol of opposition to the more than two-decade-long rule of Erdoğan.
Opinion polls suggest that İmamoğlu, who has been elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city three times, would win a presidential election if he was able to run.
The next presidential election is not due to be held until 2028.