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Türkiye’s government was due to hold talks with Instagram officials on Monday after blocking access to the social media platform last week, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.
The meeting came as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fiercely criticized social media companies, saying they sought to “muzzle the Palestinian people’s voices.”
Instagram has been accused by the authorities both of censorship and of failing to remove posts the authorities deemed offensive. A senior Turkish official accused the platform of blocking condolence posts following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Türkiye has denounced Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate cease-fire, and criticized what it calls unconditional support for Israel by the West.
Uraloğlu said Türkiye had expressed certain sensitivities regarding compliance with Turkish laws in a previous meeting with representatives of Instagram, which is owned by Facebook parent Meta, last week.
“We will meet them this afternoon. We hope they will do what’s necessary to respond to our demands. We’re hoping for positive developments,” the minister said on social media platform X.
Uraloğlu said they had blocked access to Instagram because of “content-related offenses,” without giving details.
“We are facing a digital fascism that has no tolerance for even the photographs of Palestinian martyrs and bans them immediately,” Erdoğan told an event in Ankara on Monday, citing the killing of Haniyeh.
“They are resorting to every means to hide Israel’s cruelty and muzzle the Palestinian people’s voices. Especially social media companies have literally become militants,” he said.
Uraloğlu said the government is “obliged to make the necessary interventions” when the companies “don’t abide by laws and our regulations and don’t take our societal sensitivities into consideration.”
“When they fulfill the requirements, we will lift the ban,” he said.
For its part, Meta on Monday said it will do all it can to restore services.
“As a result of the block to Instagram in Türkiye, millions of people are being deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends, and businesses are no longer able to reach their customers in the same way,” a spokesperson for Meta said.
“We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services.”
Erdoğan said Türkiye has not received the desired level of cooperation despite previous talks with social media companies.
He accused the platforms of “deliberately” withholding the “care they show in adhering to rules in America and Europe when it comes to Türkiye.”
“Those who do not criticize the scandals of social media platforms or speak against their fascism are lining up to complain about Türkiye to the Westerners,” Erdoğan added.
“As a government, we have no problem with anyone’s freedom, freedom of expression, job, livelihood, trade, or lifestyle,” said the president.
“If Türkiye’s legitimate demands are met and its sensitivities are respected, the issue will naturally be resolved on its own.”
Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun on Wednesday criticized Instagram for “censorship, pure and simple,” over what he called its decision to bar condolence posts for Haniyeh after his assassination by Israel in Iran’s capital Tehran on July 31.
Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Türkiye ranks fifth in the world in terms of Instagram usage, with more than 57 million users, following India, the U.S., Brazil and Indonesia, according to data platform Statista.
Turkish e-commerce businesses association ETID estimates that Turkish businesses generate some TL 900 million ($27 million) in revenue from Instagram daily, Vice Chair Emre Ekmekçi said.
If the ban continues, there will be a gradual shift in both sellers and users to other platforms, he said.
“We are hopeful the meeting will be positive and the parties will be able to find a solution. This is not just a political issue, there is also a commercial impact.”
