Turkey Blocks Instagram

By Staff, Agencies

Turkish authorities have blocked Instagram after officials in Ankara accused the platform of “censorship” over the “Israeli” assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

According to Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority [BTK], access to the social media platform was blocked on Friday. No formal reason was given for the move, nor any indication of how long the ban would last.

Fahrettin Altun, the country’s communications chief, had slammed the Meta-owned network earlier this week for its response to the killing of Haniyeh.

Altun “strongly condemned” Instagram, stating that it had “prevented people from posting condolences on Haniyeh’s martyrdom without giving any reason.”

“This is a very clear and obvious attempt at censorship,” he argued, vowing that Ankara “will continue to defend freedom of expression against these platforms, which have repeatedly shown that they serve the global system of exploitation and injustice.”

As of February 2024, the number of Instagram users in Turkey– a country with a population of 83 million – totaled around 58 million, according to Statista. One person can create multiple accounts on the platform.