Turkey Blocks Instagram After Government Official Says Platform Removed Posts Mourning Killing

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Turkey’s communications authority blocked the country’s access to Instagram on Friday, one day after the government slammed the social media platform for removing posts by Turkish users expressing condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The country’s BTK communications authority said in a post Friday on its website that “instagram.com has been blocked by a decision on the date of 02/08/2024,” without adding further details.

Turkey’s government-affiliated newspaper Daily Sabah said on its website that access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users mourning the Hamas political leader’s killing. 

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The Instagram block came days after Turkey’s presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun, who is an aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, lashed out against the Meta-owned platform for not allowing people in Turkey to post messages of condolences for Haniyeh.

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“This is censorship, pure and simple,” Altun said on X Wednesday after the 62-year-old Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran. Iran and Hamas have both accused Israel – which has not commented – of the killing.

A representative for Meta could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Turkish government, which does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, is holding a day of mourning for Haniyeh on Friday.

Censoring social media is not a novelty in Turkey. According to the Turkish Freedom of Expression Association, more than 712,000 web pages were blocked in the country in 2022. YouTube was banned outright between 2007 to 2010. These actions were taken by implementing an Internet law that went into effect in Turkey in 2007.

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