Instagram Blocked in Turkey

Turkey's Technology and Communications Board has blocked access to the social network Instagram for failing to comply with the country's "laws and regulations," Reuters reports .

According to the agency, this may be due to the fact that the head of the communications department of the Turkish presidential administration, Fahrettin Altun, accused the platform of blocking posts with condolences after the murder of Ismail Haniyeh, one of the leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Altun called the blocking of posts "pure censorship."

"We have warned Instagram about violations. We want certain rules to be followed... We intervene when legal norms and public sensitivity are violated," says Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu.

He added that Turkish officials are in touch with the owners of the social network. "As soon as they correct these shortcomings, we will lift the ban. This is a country with laws and rules," the minister noted. Reuters writes that Uraloglu did not specify what exactly the shortcomings were.

The agency also notes that representatives of Meta, the company that owns Instagram, did not comment on either the ban on the social network in Turkey or the accusations against them by Altun.

Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31 in Tehran, where he had traveled to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas has vowed to retaliate for the killing of Haniyeh, who led the group's political operations. According to The New York Times, he played a key role in the negotiations between Hamas and Israel over a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages.

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