The Turkish authorities have blocked the social network Instagram. No official reasons were given, but there is speculation about a connection with the death of Hamas leader Haniya.
The Instagram platform has been blocked in Turkey. The social network was blocked with a decision on August 2, wrote the state-affiliated news agency DHA, citing the Turkish Information and Communications Technology Authority.
Official reasons and expected duration are not yet known. The pro-government newspaper Sabah reported that access was blocked because Instagram had deleted posts by Turkish users who had expressed their condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya.
Erdogan spokesman accuses Instagram of censorship
Turkey's communications director, Fahrettin Altun, had accused Instagram on Wednesday in a post on the platform X of blocking expressions of condolence for Haniya. He had accused the platform of censorship. Pictures and video clips can be published and shared on Instagram.
Turkey has declared a day of national mourning for Friday because of Haniya's death, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on X. Turkey maintains good relations with the militant Islamist Hamas, which Erdogan has repeatedly described as a liberation organization. The Turkish president met Haniya in Istanbul in April.
Relations between Turkey and Israel, however, are currently considered extremely tense.
Cyber activist calls blocking “arbitrary”
The Instagram platform, which is also widely used in Turkey, was only accessible to users via protected network connections (VPN) in the morning. Cyber rights activist Yaman Akdeniz wrote on the X platform that the reason was “national security and the protection of public order”. He criticized the blocking as arbitrary.
