On Friday, August 2, 2024, the Instagram ban in Turkey affected the entire country, with millions of people unable to access the app. Picture this: you scroll through your feed, double-click, and suddenly, boom! Your favorite photo-sharing apps are Steam and Flying. The Instagram ban in Turkey has disrupted users’ social media lives with the practice of censorship in the country once again.
In an instant, the platform went dark and both the website and the mobile app became inaccessible. So what is behind this social media blackout? Let’s unravel this story and see what happens. It is also worth mentioning that some users in the afternoon can gradually access Instagram again. There is no official statement at the moment.
Instagram ban in Turkey: a perfect storm
The Instagram ban in Turkey is not an unexpected development. Tensions have been rising between the government and social media channels in the country recently. Fahrettin Altun , a Turkish communications official, accused Instagram Altun harshly criticized Instagram for unfairly removing content as the platform blocked condolence messages about Ismail Haniyeh, a key figure in Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
The platform’s actions apparently did not receive much praise from the Turkish authorities. The Turkish government is known for supporting Palestine amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Instagram ban in Turkey spread so quickly that it began to affect the majority of users. At first, the Turkish authorities imposed this ban without any explanation about it. But later, Instagram was shut down because “the cataloging procedures had not been followed,” BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority) announced to the public.
This is not the first time Turkey has activated the “unfollow” button on social media. The country has a history of blocking websites and social media. Since 2022, hundreds of thousands of digital domain names have been blocked, according to the Freedom of Expression Association. YouTube was blocked in Turkey between 2007 and 2010. Instagram is the latest to join this exclusive “ banned ” club. Who says social media isn’t private?
Anayasa Mahkemesi, İletişim Başkanlığının şu “görev”lerini (“düşünceyi açıklama ve yayma hürriyeti ile basın hürriyetine müdahale bu şekilde yapılamaz” diyerek) iptal etmiş: (Tweeti kısa sürede silmiş, AYM sitesi de erişilmez hale gelmiş ama Resmi Gazeteye hâlâ erişilebiliyor:) pic.twitter.com/rFiWUr2AXS
— Cem Say (@say_cem) August 2, 2024
The Instagram ban in Turkey sparked a reaction among Turkish citizens. On X it became a trending topic worldwide. And now it has made itself heard all over the world. One X user, Cem Say shared some interesting information. According to Say, the Constitutional Court of Turkey initially declared the ban unconstitutional, citing the ban as a violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. However, in the form of a conspiracy worthy of a soap opera, the regulatory body, BTK, also deleted this announcement and allegedly blocked access to the Constitutional Court’s website.
In addition, Fahrettin Altun, who claimed that the Constitutional Court was not intercepted by the BTK, said that the reason for the inaccessibility of the site was that it was not accessible due to the excessive intensity of users trying to access most of the official sites after the decision made by the constitutional court.
Bazı sosyal medya hesaplarında yer alan, “Anayasa Mahkemesinin internet sitesi erişime kapatıldı” iddiası doğru değildir.
Anayasa Mahkemesi’nin internet sitesinin erişime kapatılması söz konusu değildir.
Bazı basın yayın organlarının da yoğunluk nedeniyle yaşanan bu sorunu,… pic.twitter.com/KAJbR8r1XE
— Dezenformasyonla Mücadele Merkezi (@dmmiletisim) August 2, 2024
Interestingly, Say points out that the Official Gazette, where laws are normally published, is accessible. According to the law, decisions made by the Turkish Constitutional Court are correct and decisions made by the BTK are wrong. But if the rules are not followed, what does the law mean? These laws deal with analysing threats to Turkey and countering psychological operations, propaganda and disinformation. This is very important for what started as a disagreement over the sharing of photographs.
If the Instagram ban in Turkey continues for the time being, some unknown users are reporting that they are still unable to access the account, and some are saying that they now have access. For now, the story of the Instagram ban in Turkey is in a pause phase and no one knows when the next update will be released.