Access to the social network Instagram has been blocked in Turkey.
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“On August 2, access to the Instagram.com website was blocked by decision of the Information Technology and Communications Council,” the regulator said.
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The reasons for the blocking and its duration are not specified.
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The social network has been unavailable since Friday morning from either mobile devices or computers.
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At the same time, the head of the Communications Office under the Turkish Presidential Administration, Fahrettin Altun, on July 31 condemned the social network for “actively preventing” users from posting messages of condolences after the death of the head of the Politburo of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh. Altun called the social network’s actions a manifestation of censorship and promised to defend freedom of expression by taking action against platforms that have repeatedly proven that they serve “a global exploitative system of injustice.”
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Turkey declared Friday a day of national mourning after Haniyeh’s murder.
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On Wednesday, the Palestinian Hamas movement reported the death of the head of the Politburo as a result of an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he arrived to participate in the inauguration of the new Iranian president. The movement blamed Israel and the United States for Haniyeh’s death and said the attack would not go unanswered.
