Turkey lifts Instagram blockade after more than a week

This article was last updated on August 12, 2024

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Turkey lifts Instagram blockade after more than a week

Turkey has lifted the block on Instagram after more than a week. According to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, there has been an agreement with Meta, the parent company of Instagram, on the removal of posts that contain illegal content according to Turkish regulations.

The minister had accused Meta of allowing illegal content to remain in Turkey, such as sexual abuse content, gambling advertising and insults against the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

‘Censorship’

Shortly before the country blocked Instagram, a top official had accused the social media platform of blocking condolences for slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. According to the man, Instagram was thus committing censorship.

Haniyeh was killed a week and a half ago in the Iranian capital Tehran. It is generally believed that Israel is behind this. Turkish President Erdogan spoke of Haniyeh’s death as a shame and condemned the attack.

Instagram could not be visited normally in Turkey for more than a week. The site was accessible via VPNs, secure connections that make the user’s location untraceable. Instagram is popular in Turkey. More than 57 million people have an account, out of a population of 85 million. Many small business owners use Instagram to reach customers.

Wikipedia

Turkey has a history of blocking social media. In the past, YouTube, TikTok, Wikipedia and Twitter, among others, were taken down for a short or longer period of time. Wikipedia was blocked for three years because the site refused to take down articles critical of the government.