Turkey Bans Instagram, Demands Compliance With Local Laws

An Instagram employee takes a video using Instagram's new video function, at Facebook's corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on June 20, 2013. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey blocked its citizens from accessing Instagram, citing the social media platform’s noncompliance with regulations, a decision taken after the app removed Turkish posts expressing condolences for the death of a leader of the Hamas terrorist organization.

The ban on Instagram was instituted after the platform failed to comply with the country’s local regulations, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a statement. Turkey had warned Instagram, the minister said, “but since we did not find the necessary response, we imposed an access ban.”

“When the parties who do not comply with our laws, our sensitivities, and these mentioned deficiencies comply, we will take the necessary action and lift this access ban,” Uraloglu said.

Yeni Safak newspaper, which is close to the government, along with other media outlets, said access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

“Sanctions for Instagram’s blackout policy were swift,” Yeni Safak stated in its online edition.

Haniyeh was killed on July 31 while in Iran. Israel hasn’t claimed responsibility for the incident. Unlike its Western allies, Turkey doesn’t consider Hamas to be a terror organization.

Earlier, Fahrettin Altun, presidential spokesman and aide to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had strongly criticized the Meta-owned platform for preventing users in Turkey from posting messages of condolence for Haniyeh.

Instagram has more than 50 million users in Turkey, a nation with a population of 85 million. Meta officials didn’t respond by publication time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

The ban on Instagram was imposed by Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority following a court order that was issued to block access to the app, internet watchdog NetBlocks said in an Aug. 2 social media post.

Online searches for virtual private networks (VPN) “skyrocketed following the Instagram ban in Turkey” as news of the ban spread across the nation, Benjamin Feve, a research analyst at the Lebanon-based Triangle policy center, pointed out in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“As Turkish citizens gradually became aware of the situation, there was a significant increase in related queries. Questions like ‘What is a VPN?’, ‘How to open Instagram?’, and ‘Why was Instagram closed?’ all saw a notable spike in search volume,” he wrote.

Restricting Free Speech

Following the Instagram ban, Omer Fatih Sayan, the Turkish deputy minister of transport and infrastructure, accused social media platforms of being biased in favor of Western nations when it comes to “quickly” taking measures on issues, according to an X post.

“We demand the same sensitivity and fair stance from the beginning,” he wrote. “We want the safe, clean, and fair content mechanism that these platforms offer in countries where they comply with their rules to be valid in Turkey as well.”

He claimed the “double standard” from social media platforms is a common thing worldwide.

Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the nation’s opposition party, criticized the government’s decision to prohibit Instagram.

“As the Mayor of Istanbul, I strongly believe that communication bans do not benefit any society. Limiting access to social media platforms stifles free expression and hinders the flow of information,” he said in an Aug. 2 X post.

“I urge the authorities to reconsider this decision and lift the ban. Let’s work together for a more open and connected society.”

The recent ban on Instagram is the latest in a series of internet censorship measures the Turkish government has taken over the past years. Turkey scored a very low 30/100 in Freedom House’s Freedom of the Net 2023 ratings.

“Internet freedom in Turkey has steadily declined over the past decade. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have enacted several laws that increase censorship and criminalize online speech,” Freedom House states.

For instance, Turkish authorities removed online content and issued criminal penalties against certain internet users ahead of the general elections in May 2023, according to Freedom House.

In 2022, Turkey introduced a Disinformation Law that criminalizes online speech while restricting privacy, according to the group.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.