Turkey’s information technologies regulator BTK announced this morning (August 2nd) that Instagram would no longer be accessible in Turkey. While the regulator cited a failure to remove unlawful posts as the reason for the block, many users suspect it may be related to allegations of Instagram censoring condolence messages for the recently assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as suggested by a statement made by Communications Director Fahrettin Altun days earlier.
As of August 2nd, users in Turkey are unable to access Instagram. The Information Technologies and Communication Authority’s (BTK) website displays the following message:
“instagram.com has been blocked by the Information Technologies and Communication Authority decision number 490.05.01.2024.-608983 dated 02/08/2024.”
According to information obtained by Medyascope from BTK officials, Instagram was shut down due to violations related to “insulting Atatürk (the founder of modern Turkey),” “promoting gambling and drugs,” “child sexual exploitation,” and similar crimes.
The BTK official, choosing to remain anonymous, explained that the block was not an immediate decision: “If there is content involving child exploitation or insults to Atatürk, we demand its removal. They are given a timeframe to address this. If not resolved within the allotted time, we have the right to impose an access ban ourselves. Thus, the decision was made due to catalog (list of) crimes.”
The official emphasized that the decision was not linked to Communications Director Fahrettin Altun’s statement, noting, “Our legal basis is catalog crimes. If Instagram complies with the removal requests, access will be restored.”
Following the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh by Israel in Iran’s capital, allegations arose that Instagram had been censoring posts related to Haniyeh, which prompted Turkey’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun to make a fiery statement on X (Twitter).
While there is currently no evidence directly linking the Instagram block to allegations of censoring posts related to Haniyeh — and no independent confirmation that Instagram was indeed involved — many have assumed a connection between Altun’s statement and the Instagram block.
Altun wrote:
“No matter how many Palestinians Israel kills, the just cause of Palestine will not be erased from history. The State of Israel will go down in history as the perpetrator of extrajudicial killings, assassinations, occupation, and genocide.
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Furthermore, I strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram for blocking people from posting condolence messages for Haniyeh without any justification. This is a clear and blatant act of censorship.
We will continue to defend freedom of expression against these platforms that have repeatedly shown their service to global exploitation and injustice. We will stand by our Palestinian brothers and sisters at every opportunity and on every platform.
Palestine will eventually be free. Israel and its supporters will not be able to prevent this.”
“BTK must get its decision approved by the criminal court”
Prof. Dr. Yaman Akdeniz, one of the founders of the Freedom of Expression Association, noted on his X account that the decision was requested by the Presidency or a ministry, stating, “BTK must get its decision approved by the criminal court.”
Turkey’s internet freedom is rated as “Not Free” by Freedom House. The recent Instagram block is the latest instance of the Turkish government censoring major social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It is estimated that over 400,000 websites are blocked in Turkey.
