The Türkiye Instagram ban has left many users in the dark, wondering what prompted the government to block access to the popular social media platform. Instagram has been inaccessible in Türkiye since Friday, August 2, 2024, as the Turkish regulator did not initially provide a reason or timeframe for the ban.
The platform’s mobile app also became inaccessible, leaving users to speculate about the motivation behind the ban. Later, in the statement made by BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority), it was stated that “Instagram was closed because it did not comply with catalog crimes”.
Why did the Türkiye Instagram ban?
The Türkiye Instagram ban follows comments made by Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun, criticizing the platform for blocking condolence posts on the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, a key official of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Altun, the communications director of the Turkish presidency, called out Instagram for what he deemed “censorship, pure and simple,” stating that the platform had not cited any policy violations for its action. The ban has sparked concerns about social media censorship in Türkiye, with many users taking to other platforms to express their discontent.
On July 31, Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun published a condolence message on the social media platform X after Haniyeh’s death and pointed out that Instagram blocked posts about Haniyeh and said, “I also strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram for blocking people from publishing condolence messages for the martyrdom of Heniyeh without any justification. This is a very clear and clear attempt at censorship.”
X user Cem Say expresses his criticism through X. “Türkiye’s Constitutional Court (AYM) announced its decision to cancel the Turkish Communications Directorate’s ban on Instagram and wrote the following as the reason: “Interference with the freedom to express and disseminate thought and the freedom of the press cannot be done in this way.” As soon as the Turkish Constitutional Court announced this decision on X, BTK quickly deleted the tweet and blocked access to the Constitutional Court website. But the Official Gazette is still accessible”
Anayasa Mahkemesi, İletişim Başkanlığının şu "görev"lerini ("düşünceyi açıklama ve yayma hürriyeti ile basın hürriyetine müdahale bu şekilde yapılamaz" diyerek) iptal etmiş: (Tweeti kısa sürede silmiş, AYM sitesi de erişilmez hale gelmiş ama Resmi Gazeteye hâlâ erişilebiliyor:) pic.twitter.com/rFiWUr2AXS
— Cem Say (@say_cem) August 2, 2024
Türkiye’s official gazette is a state institution where laws are shared with the public. Here Cem Say refers to these laws. The content of the laws is:
- Analyzing the internal and external threats against the Republic of Turkey and implementing the necessary measures in terms of strategic communication and crisis management.
- To identify psychological operations, propaganda, and perception operations against the Republic of Turkey and to take action against all kinds of manipulation and disinformation.
The Türkiye Instagram ban is not an isolated incident, as Türkiye has a track record of censoring social media and websites. Hundreds of thousands of domains have been blocked since 2022, according to the Freedom of Expression Association, a non-profit organization regrouping lawyers and human rights activists. The video-sharing platform YouTube was blocked from 2007 to 2010, and it seems that Instagram is the latest casualty in Türkiye’s ongoing battle with social media giants.
As the situation unfolds, one thing is clear: the Türkiye Instagram ban has left a void in the social media landscape of Türkiye, and users are eagerly awaiting a resolution to the crisis.
Featured image credit: Furkan Demirkaya
