Turkey blocks Instagram access in response to the removal of HanAiyeh’s posts: Report
ANKARA, Turkey (AP): On Friday, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority of Turkey (ICTA) declared that the country has banned the use of the social site Instagram, this is inconsistent with the government policy of restricting communication sites in Turkey.
Ictimai Televizyon ve Radio, the Internet in Turkey, announced the move without a reason early Friday this week. Nonetheless, some local Turkish media, such as Yeni Safak, the governmental-affiliated newspaper, cited that the block was the result of Instagram removing posts of Turkish users with messages of condolence over the death of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.
As for Instagram’s blackout policy, sanctions were applied immediately: blocks on Internet services. In Turkey, the Information Technologies and Communication Authority terminated access to Instagram, as stated in the Yeni Safak online platform.
Presidential communications director and Erdogan’s top assistant, Fahrettin Altun, also criticized the Meta-owned application for allowing Turkish citizens to send messages of condolence to Haniyeh. Altun’s criticism was mainly directed at Instagram’s censorship, which caused a great deal of controversy in Turkey.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental was told by Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the transportation and infrastructure minister in Turkey, that Instagram still had an “inventory of serious crimes” and breached the “sensitivities.” The DMST mentioned some crimes as follows: incitement to suicide, torture, obscenity, crime against the state, and sexual abuse of a child. But what specific crime Instagram was accused of, Uraloglu failed to mention while opening the sensational issue.
This decision to block Instagram comes as tensions in the region rise and the Turkish political situation remains somewhat unpredictable. The country’s authorities never favoured social networks and other similar services. The government’s approach towards digital platforms has become more aggressive. Over the past few years, many reported cases of page moderation and temporary bans of social media sites during politically sensitive periods have been reported.
In recent years, Turkey has enacted general provisions to monitor and censor the content published on the Internet, which conventionally refers to the country’s security and public order. This action of the Turkish government against Instagram continues the tension between the Turkish government and global tech firms regarding the regulation of social media content.
On the other hand, people who support the actions of governments are convinced that such actions are justified and necessary to maintain law and order and uphold patriotism.
As for the current stage, people need to find out how many more days or months this block will last and whether any meetings or talks between the Turkish authorities and Meta, which owns Instagram, will occur. The event also posed questions over the extent to which such material should be prohibited and protected and eradicating the constitution’s procedural mandates on freedom of speech.
