Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at Instagram, calling it a promoter of ‘digital fascism’ over its alleged censorship of photographs of Palestinian ‘martyrs’.
The Turkish president’s statements came in a context of tension between Türkiye and Instagramwhile Turkish officials held talks with representatives of the platform to restore access to millions of users in the country.
Since August 2, Turkey’s Information and Communications Technology Authority has blocked access to this popular social network, although without offering clear explanations.
According to some sources, the ban was imposed because the platform failed to comply with local regulations.
However, reports from various media suggest that The blockade may have been in response to the removal of Turkish posts expressing condolences over the death of Hamas’ political leaderIsmail Haniyeh.
The controversial incident is the latest example of Turkey’s restrictive measures against online platforms, in a country with a history of digital censorship.
“They cannot even tolerate photos of Palestinian martyrs and immediately censor them. We are facing digital fascism disguised as freedom,” Erdogan said at a human rights event.
Unlike its Western allies, Türkiye does not consider Hamas a terrorist organizationIn fact, Erdogan, who has harshly criticized Israel’s military actions in Gaza, has described Hamas as a liberation movement.
Türkiye vs. social media
Erdogan also accused social media of Allow propaganda from groups considered terrorists by Türkiye.
“We have tried to establish a line of dialogue through our relevant institutions. However, we have not yet been able to achieve the desired cooperation.”
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Turkish authorities met last week with representatives of Meta, Instagram’s parent company; unfortunately, no agreement was reached.
“We did not get the exact result we wanted. We do not believe there will be any progress today,” Uraloglu said.
With more than 57 million users in a country of 85 million inhabitants, Instagram has a significant presence in Turkey, according to New York-based digital marketing firm We Are Social Media.
With information from AP
