Türkiye, Erdogan does not revoke the Instagram block. Arm wrestling on censorship –

Instagram is still inaccessible in Turkey, with the social network blocked for the second day after a senior Turkish official accused the American platform of censorship. The decision was announced on its website by the Turkish Information and Communications Technology Authority (BTK) and refers to rules that allow the blocking of “criminal content”, without providing further details. “Our country has values ​​and sensitivities. Despite our warnings, they did not take criminal content into consideration. We have imposed a ban on access. When they comply with our laws, the ban will be lifted,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said yesterday.

On Wednesday, the Turkish presidency’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, had harshly criticized Instagram, saying that it “prevents people from posting messages of condolence for the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh”. “This is a very clear and obvious attempt at censorship”, Altun had denounced on X after the death of the Hamas leader. The opposition parties CHP (social democratic) and Iyi Party (nationalist), as well as the Ankara forum, took legal action last night to lift the access ban. According to Turkish media, Instagram has more than 50 million subscribers in the state led by Erdogan, out of 85 million inhabitants. In recent years, the Turkish authorities have resorted to temporarily blocking some social networks several times.