Following allegations of a “Attempt to censor” pro-Hamas content hat Turkey blocked access to the country’s hugely popular online network Instagram“Instagram.com has been blocked based on a decision dated August 2, 2024,” Turkey’s Information Technology and Communications Authority (BTK) said on its website on Friday.
Numerous users explained in the online service X, which belongs to the technology group Meta no longer being able to use Instagram, AFP journalists on site confirmed this.
Before the ban, the spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticises Instagram for handling messages about the killing of Hamas leader Ismail HaniyaThe online network prevents “people Messages of condolence for the martyrdom of Haniya publish,” presidential spokesman Fahrettin Altun said on Wednesday on X. This was a “very clear and obvious attempt at censorship.”
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According to the Islamist Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hanija was killed in Tehran on Wednesday night. Hamas blamed Israel for this. Israel has not commented on Haniya’s killing.
Turkish President Erdogan had called for Friday a national day of mourning in honor of Hanija The Hamas leader had frequently stayed in Turkey before his Palestinian organization’s major attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Erdogan had also received him in Türkiye after the attack.
Instagram is extremely popular in Turkey: According to Turkish media, 50 million of the approximately 85 million inhabitants have a user account on the platform.
Turkish digital law expert Yaman Akdeniz described the Instagram ban as “arbitrary” and said there could “never be an explanation or justification” for it.
More on the topic at Tagesspiegel Plus
Political head of Hamas Who was Ismail Haniya? Assassination of Hamas leader Haniya What does his death mean for the hostage deal? Tehran threatens retaliation What would a war between Iran and Israel look like?
In recent years, the Turkish authorities have already Several online networks temporarily blockedincluding Facebook and Twitter, often after attacks. Between April 2017 and January 2020, the Online encyclopedia Wikipedia not easily accessible from Turkeybecause two entries stated that there were links between the government in Ankara and extremist organizations. (AFP)
