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ISTANBUL: Turkey blocked access to social media network Instagram on Friday (Aug 2) without giving any official explanation after a senior Turkish official accused the US company of censorship.
Many users living in Turkey have complained on the X platform that they are unable to refresh their Instagram stories, an issue confirmed by AFP journalists.
The BTK Communications Authority announced on its website on Friday that the Meta-owned platform had been blocked.
BTK did not give a specific reason, but an official told Turkish media that it asked Instagram to remove the app because there was “criminal content” on its platform.
Presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun accused Instagram of censorship on Wednesday, saying it was “blocking people from Condolence message to commemorate the martyr Haniyeh“.
Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas and a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan The group was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran on Wednesday..
Erdogan ordered a national day of mourning in memory of Haniyeh, who played a key role in negotiations to end the nearly 10-month Gaza war.
“This is a very clear attempt at condemnation,” Altun said on X.
An anonymous source at BTK denied that the move was due to Instagram blocking posts about Haniyeh, telling the Medyascope website that the move was due to “insulting Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey,” and “crimes” including “drug games (and) pedophilia.”
He said that if the issue is not resolved, the platform will be permanently blocked.
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