Turkey Lifts Nine-Day Ban On Access To Instagram

Due to Instagram’s non-compliance with Turkey’s “laws and rules,” access to the social media platform was restricted by the Turkish government on August 2. The social media platform ban was however lifted after its parent company Meta decided to work with law enforcement to mitigate the concerns raised by the government.

A senior Turkish official said that Instagram was preventing messages expressing sympathy for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel’s attacks on Gaza have been condemned by Turkey, which has also demanded an immediate ceasefire and criticized what it sees as the West’s “unconditional support for Israel.”

Turkey is the fifth-most popular country in the world for Instagram users, with over 57 million, after Brazil, Indonesia, India, and the United States, according to data site Statista. Protests by users and small businesses who utilize the social media platform to connect with clients were sparked by the nine-day restriction.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on X, “As a result of our negotiations with Instagram officials, we will lift the access block…after they promised to work together to meet our demands regarding catalogue crimes and censorship imposed on users.”

Acts including murder, sexual assault, drug trafficking, abuse, and torture are considered catalogue crimes in Turkish law. Significant progress has been made in protecting user rights, upholding the law, enhancing security in Turkey’s digital environment, and creating an impartial inspection system, according to Uraloglu.

According to Uraloglu, Instagram’s parent company Meta had committed to abiding by Turkish law and making sure that any posts or content that contained elements of certain crimes or “terrorism propaganda” were promptly removed.

“Live evidence indicates that, following a nine-day nationwide ban, Instagram is now available again on all of Turkey’s major internet providers. Internet watcher NetBlocks stated that this is the nation’s longest restriction on a major social networking platform in recent memory.