ISTANBUL, Turkey: Turkey has resumed access to Instagram after a nine-day block, which had restricted millions of users. The unblock started on Saturday evening at 9:30 pm local time (1830 GMT), following successful negotiations between Turkish officials and Instagram representatives.
Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced the restoration of access, stating that Instagram had agreed to comply with the country’s demands. The platform had been inaccessible since August 2, but the reasons for the block were not initially clear. Uraloglu cited “violations linked to content” as a primary concern, mentioning issues such as posts involving gambling, drugs, and child abuse that Instagram allegedly failed to remove.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, contested these claims, asserting that it had already taken down nearly 2,500 posts requested by Turkish authorities in the first half of the year. Additionally, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, criticized Instagram for allegedly censoring messages of condolence for Ismael Haniyeh, a Hamas leader killed in Tehran.
While Instagram access has been restored, the online game Roblox, which is highly popular in Turkey, remained blocked for a fourth day. This disruption affected a significant portion of Turkey’s 85 million residents, who are major users of Instagram, and impacted daily business activities conducted on the platform.
