Turkey initiated the unblocking of Instagram on Saturday evening, restoring access to millions of users after a nine-day outage. 'Following negotiations with Instagram representatives, we will commence unblocking access from 9:30 pm (1830 GMT) as they have agreed to address our demands,' stated Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu on X. Instagram's accessibility gradually resumed post that timeframe, as observed by AFP reporters.
'From the outset, we have sought for social media platforms to adhere to the laws of the Republic,' Uraloglu emphasized. The platform had been inaccessible since August 2, with no clear reasons provided. The minister cited 'content-related violations' on Saturday evening, noting Instagram's refusal to remove thousands of posts related to 'gambling, drugs, and child abuse.' Meta, Instagram's parent company, refuted claims of non-cooperation, stating it had removed nearly 2,500 posts in the first half of the year upon Turkish authorities' requests.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Communications Director, Fahrettin Altun, accused Instagram of obstructing condolence messages for Ismael Haniyeh, the political leader of Palestinian group Hamas and a close ally of Erdogan, who was killed in Tehran last month in an attack attributed to Israel. Between 60 to 70 percent of Turkey's 85 million population possess an Instagram account, conducting approximately $57 million in daily business on the platform, according to Emre Ekmekci, Vice-President of an e-commerce association. Access to the popular online game Roblox remained restricted for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday evening.
