Instagram blocked in Turkey for fifth consecutive day amid content dispute

Access to Instagram services remained blocked in Turkey on Tuesday evening for the fifth consecutive day, despite the platform's removal of nearly 2,500 pieces of content in response to requests from Turkish authorities in the first half of 2024.

According to a report published on July 31 by Meta, Instagram's parent company, the platform removed 2,445 pieces of content in Turkey during the first six months of 2024. Of these, 1,941 were removed at the request of Turkish authorities. The majority of these requests, totaling 1,849, involved content related to so-called "catalog crimes," which include offenses ranging from child abuse to drug use.

Despite the removal of these contents, Turkish authorities accuse Instagram of not complying with this law. "We blocked access because Instagram did not comply with our past warnings regarding so-called catalog crimes," Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu reiterated on Tuesday afternoon.

"Even condolences for Ismail Haniyeh, who was brutally assassinated, are not tolerated on this platform. If there is censorship or blocking, it is they who do it," the minister added, specifying that the ban on access could be "immediately" lifted if Instagram meets "the required conditions."

The blocking of Instagram followed accusations of "censorship" expressed by the communications director of the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun. 

He claimed that Instagram "prevented people from posting condolence messages for the martyrdom of (Hamas leader Ismail) Haniyeh."

"We are facing a digital fascism that cannot tolerate even photos of Palestinian martyrs without immediately banning them," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Monday, addressing the issue for the first time. 

Hamas is considered a "terrorist" organization in Europe and the United States, but it is labeled as a "liberation movement" by Ankara, which declared a national day of mourning on Friday for Haniyeh's funeral.