Turkey Blocks Instagram In The Aftermath Of Death Content Censorship For Hamas Leaders

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Turkish government blocked Instagram. The blocking was carried out by Turkey following a post censorship related to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

"Instagram.com has been blocked based on the decision of the Information and Communication Technology Authority dated 02/08/2024 and numbered 490.05.01.2024.-608983," said the Turkish Information and Communication Technology Authority (BTK) as reported by Euronews, Friday, August 2.

The move came after Turkey's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun criticized Instagram for allegedly blocking a condolences post over the death of Ismail Haniyeh head of the political bureau Hamas who was killed in Tehran, Iran.

Hamas immediately blamed Israel for the attack and declared Haniyeh a "martir".

"No matter how many Palestinians Israel has killed, the Palestinian struggle will not be erased from history," said Altun following news of Haniyeh's death.

"I also strongly condemn the Instagram social media platform which prohibits the public from publishing messages of condolences for Heniyeh's martyrdom without any justification," he continued.

"This is clearly a censorship effort," said Altun.