Turkey lifted its nine-day ban on Instagram late Saturday after a series of negotiations between Turkish officials and representatives from Meta, the parent company of Instagram.
The social media platform had been inaccessible since August 2, following the removal of posts by Turkish government officials that mourned Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31. The posts referred to Haniyeh as a ‘martyr,’ which prompted Instagram to restrict their visibility, leading to the ban.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu explained the government’s decision, stating, “As the Republic of Turkey, we imposed an access ban on Instagram on August 2 because the platform did not comply with our demands regarding catalog crimes. We have always insisted that social media platforms respect the laws of the Republic of Turkey.”
Uraloglu added that after negotiations with Instagram, the platform agreed to address Turkey’s concerns, particularly regarding content moderation policies related to catalog crimes, which include threats to public order and the integrity of the state, incitement to violence, and promotion of criminal activity. The government did not specify which one of these ‘catalog crimes’ was the reason for the ban, nor a court order was published in this regard.
As soon as the ban was lifted, the Presidency’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun reposted a message commemorating Haniyeh ‘on the tenth day of his martyrdom,’ a post that was not removed. However, there were reports that similar posts by other users were still being deleted by Instagram, citing violations of its content policies.
Source : English Bianet