Access to Instagram cut off in Turkey, officials offer no explanation; check details
This action follows remarks made earlier by Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun, who criticized Instagram for allegedly blocking condolence posts related to the death of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior official of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
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Turkey has blocked access to the social media platform Instagram, the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) announced on Friday (August 2). The BTK did not provide a reason or specify the duration for the ban, which has also rendered the platform's mobile app inaccessible.
This action follows remarks made earlier by Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun, who criticized Instagram for allegedly blocking condolence posts related to the death of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior official of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
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"This is censorship, pure and simple," Altun, the communications director of the Turkish presidency, said on X (formerly Twitter). He added that Instagram had not cited any policy violations for its actions.
There has been no immediate response from Meta Platforms Inc., Instagram's parent company, regarding either the ban or Altun's comments.
The BTK published its decision on its website on August 2. The move comes in the wake of reports that top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed after his residence was targeted in Tehran early on Wednesday, according to a statement from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Hamas, engaged in conflict with Israel in Gaza, claimed that an "Israeli" raid killed Haniyeh while he was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in of Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian.
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