After a hiatus of nine days, Turkey has finally lifted the ban on Instagram, granting millions of users access to the platform once again.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced on Saturday evening that negotiations with Instagram representatives had resulted in the agreement to address Turkey’s demands, paving the way for the restoration of access at 9:30 pm (1830 GMT).
Reporters from AFP observed a gradual return of Instagram access following the minister’s announcement.
Uraloglu emphasized the importance of social media platforms adhering to the laws of the Republic throughout the process.
The decision to block the platform was made on August 2 for unspecified reasons.
On Saturday evening, the minister cited content violations as the primary cause for the ban, alleging Instagram’s failure to remove numerous posts related to “gambling, drugs, and child abuse”.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, refuted claims of non-cooperation, stating that they had already taken down close to 2,500 posts at Turkey’s request in the first half of the year.
Fahrettin Altun, the communications director for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused Instagram of censoring messages expressing condolences for Ismael Haniyeh, a Hamas political leader and Erdogan’s ally, who was killed in Tehran last month in an incident attributed to Israel.
Meta issued an apology on Tuesday for removing social media posts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas.
Following Anwar’s office summoning Meta representatives for an explanation behind the removal of the leader’s posts on Facebook and Instagram relating to Haniyeh’s death, the apology was issued by Meta.
An estimated 60-70% of Turkey’s 85 million population are active Instagram users, with approximately $57 million in daily transactions conducted on the platform, as reported by Emre Ekmekci, a vice president of an e-commerce association.
However, access to the popular online game Roblox, particularly favored in Turkey, remained blocked for the fourth consecutive day as of Saturday evening.
Earlier in February, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized before the US Congress as lawmakers grilled tech industry leaders about the risks that social media poses to children.
The US Senate Judiciary Committee hosted a session titled ‘Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis’ where tech executives were questioned on the matter.
AFP