ISTANBUL: Türkiye restored access to the social media platform Instagram after more than a week on Saturday after the company agreed to cooperate with authorities to address the government’s concerns, a top official announced.
“As a result of our negotiations with Instagram officials, we will lift the access block at 9:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) after they promised to work together to meet our demands regarding catalog crimes and censorship imposed on users,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a post on X.
Authorities blocked access to the social media platform on Aug. 2 for failing to comply with the country’s laws and rules and public sensitivities.
“From the beginning, we wanted social media platforms to respect the laws of the Republic of Türkiye,” Uraloglu wrote on X.
Uraloglu elaborated in a video posted on X, saying that the platform “was to establish compliance with Turkish law and that in instances where the law was violated, there would be quick and effective intervention.”
He added that the Instagram parent company, Meta Platforms, would take all necessary precautions to remove accounts belonging to terrorist organizations such as PKK, PYD and FETÖ and all content containing propaganda in favor of these organizations.
The minister also said that the user rights of social media accounts belonging to citizens of the Republic of Türkiye would be fully protected and accounts would not be closed without any warning.
Instagram was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.
A top Turkish official earlier accused Instagram of blocking condolence posts over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last month in an attack blamed on Israel.
Türkiye has denounced Israel’s attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate cease-fire and criticized unconditional support for Israel by the West.
The country is one of the biggest markets for Instagram as it ranks fifth in the world in terms of Instagram usage, with more than 57 million users, following India, the United States, Brazil and Indonesia, according to data platform Statista.
Courtesy: Dailysabah
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