Turkey Restores Instagram Access After Being Blocked For 9 Days

Illustration of the Instagram application (Photo: Pixabay)

Turkey is rumored to be reopening access to Instagram after Mark Zuckerberg's social media platform was blocked about a week ago from the country.

According to a Bloomberg report, the lifting of the ban on Instagram usage was because the social media company had pledged to comply with local government demands regarding censorship and crime content.

"As a result of our talks with Instagram officials, our demands, especially regarding catalog crimes, will be met," said Turkish Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu on Saturday in a post on social media platform X.

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devleti olarak; katalog suçları çerçevesinde uyguladığı politikalardan dolayı sosyal medya platformu Instagram’a 2 Ağustos tarihinde taleplerimize karşılık vermediği için erişim engeli getirmiştik. Baştan beri sosyal medya platformlarının Türkiye Cumhuriyeti…

— Abdulkadir URALOĞLU (@a_uraloglu) August 10, 2024

T\"urkiye Cumhuriyeti Devleti olarak's catalog; sufullar catalog

Previously, Turkish internet regulators suddenly stopped public access to social media Instagram on August 2, but there was no explanation regarding the reason for the blocking.

It was recently discovered that the reason for the blocking was after Turkey's head of communications, Fahrettin Altun, accused the platform of censoring a condolences post for the murder of Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader.

"And they (Instagrams) promised to work together on sensors imposed on users, and we will lift the access ban starting at 21:30," Uraloglu said in a follow-up tweet.

According to a Reuters report, the crimes of the catalog intended in Turkish law include actions such as murder, sexual assault, drug trafficking, torture and torture.

"A significant advantage has been achieved in improving security in the digital environment in Turkey, law compliance, protecting user rights, and developing a fair inspection mechanism," said Uraloglu.