Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Turkey’s communications authority blocked the country’s access to Instagram on Friday, one day after the government slammed the social media platform for removing posts by Turkish users expressing condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The country’s BTK communications authority said in a post Friday on its website that “instagram.com has been blocked by a decision on the date of 02/08/2024,” without adding further details.
Turkey’s government-affiliated newspaper Daily Sabah said on its website that access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users mourning the Hamas political leader’s killing.
The Instagram block came days after Turkey’s presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun, who is an aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, lashed out against the Meta-owned platform for not allowing people in Turkey to post messages of condolences for Haniyeh. “This is censorship, pure and simple,” Altun said on X Wednesday after the 62-year-old Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran.
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