Without providing any explanation, Turkey has taken the step to block access to the popular social media platform Instagram, as announced by the national communications authority on Friday.
This move follows allegations of censorship made against the company, which is based in the United States by a senior Turkish official.
The BTK communications authority, in a statement on its website, mentioned that a decision to block “instagram.com” was made on the 2nd of August, 2024. However, no further details were disclosed.
Reports from Turkish users indicated that they were facing difficulties in refreshing their Instagram feeds, a concern that was confirmed by journalists from AFP.
The director of communications at the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun, criticized Instagram, owned by Meta, accusing the platform of hindering individuals from posting messages of condolences for Ismail Haniyeh, who was recently killed.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas group and a close associate of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was assassinated in Tehran, an incident attributed to Israel.
“This action is a blatant act of censorship,” remarked Altun in a statement on X.
Recent statistics from Turkish media show that Instagram boasts over 50 million users in Turkey, a significant number considering the population of 85 million.
The decision to block the social media platform has ignited humorous responses on other networks such as X.
An internet meme featuring a crowded metro station with the caption: “X when Turks wake up to find that Instagram is blocked,” quickly went viral on the platform.
“Instagram is inaccessible in Turkey, life has lost its meaning,” tweeted a user under the hashtag #CringeOfMaster, along with an image of a sorrowful man.
Some users sarcastically inquired where they could now share their edited images.
This is not the first instance of Turkey restricting access to social media platforms.
Wikipedia faced a ban from April 2017 until January 2020 due to content related to the presidency and extremism.
Such actions have caused concern in a nation where the government, led by Erdogan, is frequently accused of limiting civil liberties by limiting access to online information.
Earlier in April, Meta, the owner of Facebook, suspended its Threads social network in Turkey due to government restrictions on sharing data between the platforms.
AFP