Turkey has blocked access to social media platform Instagram, the infotech regulator said on Friday, without stating a reason or duration for the ban, which also left the platform’s mobile app inaccessible.
The move follows comments on Wednesday by Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun criticising the platform for what he called its decision to block condolence posts on the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, a key official of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"This is censorship, pure and simple," Altun, the communications director of the Turkish presidency, said on X, adding that Instagram had not cited any policy violations for its action.
There was no immediate comment from Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc on either the ban or Altun's comments.
Auschwitz survivors to visit home of former camp commander Rudolf Höss
Trump’s Panama Canal seizure threat revives memories of 1989 US invasion
Trump’s blunderbuss strategies on climate and energy may backfire in ways he has not envisaged
‘Belarus cannot be left behind’: West urged not to abandon Ukraine’s neighbour ahead of ‘sham’ election
Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the decision on its website. Instagram.com was inaccessible in Turkey as of Friday morning. Some users reported that the mobile app didn’t refresh with new content and gave an error message.
The Turkish government is a fierce critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation. - Reuters, additional reporting Bloomberg
