Turkey Blocks Instagram Nationwide Amid Accusations of Censorship

On Friday morning, Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority announced that access to Instagram has been blocked for all 85 million people in the country. Local media reported the decision was posted on the authority’s website, stating, “Instagram.com has been blocked by a decision on the date of 02/08/2024.” Turkey, with over 50 million Instagram users, now faces an unexpected halt in access to the popular photo-sharing app.

While the Turkish government did not provide an official reason for the ban or specify its duration, reports suggest that the move is a response to Instagram’s removal of posts related to the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Daily Sabah newspaper, which often aligns with the government’s stance, reported that the ban was due to the “Haniyeh posts removal,” which included posts from users in Turkey expressing condolences over his death.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political wing of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, was reportedly killed in a blast in Tehran during his visit for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. Both Iranian officials and Hamas attribute his death to an assassination by Israel, although Israel has not commented on the incident.

Fahrettin Altun, head of Turkey’s presidential communications and an aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticized Instagram on Wednesday for what he described as censorship. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Altun expressed grief over the death of “our dear brother Ismail Haniyeh” and condemned Instagram for preventing users from posting condolence messages, arguing there were no policy violations.

Altun stated, “This is censorship, pure and simple. We will defend freedom of speech against these platforms that have shown many times that they are primarily in the service of the global exploitative system of injustice.”