Turkey has restored access to Instagram, just over a week after blocking the app on August 2. The move to lift the ban, announced by Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, comes as a result of successful negotiations between Turkish authorities and Meta.
According to cybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks, Instagram is being gradually reactivated across various internet providers in Turkey. The ban was initially imposed after Turkish officials accused Instagram of censoring posts related to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Uraloglu revealed that the government had blocked Instagram due to its alleged non-compliance with requests related to “catalog crimes,” a term used in the translation that refers to specific content issues. He noted that discussions with Instagram have led to agreements on addressing these concerns, though the exact nature of the content or crimes involved was not detailed.
This development highlights ongoing tensions between social media platforms and governments over content moderation and regulatory compliance. As the situation evolves, it will be important to monitor how these agreements affect both the platform's operations in Turkey and broader discussions about digital content regulation.
