ANKARA, Aug 2 – Turkey’s infotech regulator announced on Friday that access to the social media platform Instagram has been blocked. The regulator did not provide a reason or specify the duration of the ban, which also rendered the platform’s mobile app inaccessible.
This action follows remarks made on Wednesday by Fahrettin Altun, a Turkish communications official, who criticized Instagram for allegedly blocking condolence posts related to the death of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior figure in the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “This is censorship, pure and simple,” stated Altun, the communications director of the Turkish presidency, on X, adding that Instagram had not cited any policy violations for its actions.
There was no immediate response from Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), regarding either the ban or Altun’s comments.
Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the decision on its website on August 2.
