Communications agency suddenly blocks access to Instagram without stating a reason – but after government officials accused it of censoring material on Hamas leader’s recent ssassination in Iran.
Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority, BTK, the national communications regulatory agency, blocked access to Instagram on Friday without stating the reason or duration of the ban.
“Instagram has been blocked by a decision dated 02.08.2024,” the BTK wrote on its website without giving further information.
The ban has come after the Turkish presidency’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, on Wednesday accused Instagram, which is owned by Meta, of censorship of content about Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Iran calling him a “martyr”.
“This is censorship, pure and simple,” Altun said on X, adding that Instagram had not cited any policy violations for its action.
However, there is no certainty that Instagram has been blocked over content removal on Haniyeh’s death, which led President Erdogan to declare a day of mourning on Friday.
The independent media platform Medyascope reported on Friday that Instagram had been blocked over its failure to remove illegal content on matters such as “the sexual abuse of a child”, “Insulting [Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk [founder of Turkey],” and items on “gambling and drugs”.
A BTK official anonymously told Medyascope that it had warned the social content provider to remove such content.
“There are certain periods of time [given] for this. If it [the offending material] is not resolved within this period, we have the right to block access,” the BTK official was quoted as saying.
Turkey has passed draconian laws and regulations that give the government greater control on digital platforms.
Under Erdogan, Turkey has previously blocked many social media platforms, including YouTube, Threads, EksiSozluk, Wikipedia, Twitter and TikTok. It has also imposed social media and broadcasting bans following disasters, terror attacks and social unrest.
Users in Turkey cannot access Instagram via web and mobile applications since the ban was imposed on Friday morning. Access is still possible via VPN services.