Instagram in Turkey blocked for fifth consecutive day despite removal of nearly 2,500 contents

Turks banned from Instagram for fifth consecutive day. Authorities continued to block access to the American social network on Tuesday, August 6. They accuse the platform of not respecting the law on so-called “catalogue” crimes ranging from the abuse of minors to drug use.We blocked access because Instagram did not comply with our past warnings regarding so-called catalog offenses.”hammered home the Turkish Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloglu on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a report published on July 31 by the American company Meta, which owns Instagram, the platform removed 2,445 contents in Turkey in the first six months of 2024, including 1,941 at the request of Turkish authorities. The vast majority of these requests, 1,849 in total, concerned contents falling under a law on so-called “catalogue” crimes.

The block also comes after accusations of censorship by Instagram, expressed by the Turkish Presidency’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun. He had claimed that Instagram “prevented people from posting messages of condolences 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”President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, speaking out on the subject for the first time. Hamas is considered a “terrorist” in Europe and the United States, but is described as a “liberation movement” by Ankara.