Turkey bans Instagram after Meta removes post related to Ismail Haniyeh

Turkey has banned the photo and video-sharing platform Instagram, without providing an official reason. However, the ban followed sharp criticism from a senior government communications official after Meta removed content related to Hamas's political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Turkish Head of Communications, Fahrettin Altun, lashed out at the Meta platform on Wednesday for censoring posts expressing condolences for Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a missile attack in Tehran.

“I also strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram which is actively preventing people from posting messages of condolences for the passing of Hamas leader Haniyeh without citing any policy violations. This is censorship, pure and simple,” he wrote on microblogging platform X. 

Turkey’s Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) announced the ban on Instagram via its website but did not provide a specific reason for the decision.

Our dear brother Ismail Haniyeh, political bureau chief of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, has faced death with the kind of humility that his enemies can never understand. He is one of the great heroes and a martyr for the Palestinian cause. May God bless his soul.…

— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) July 31, 2024

Instagram's parent company, Meta has not yet responded to either the ban or the statements made by Altun.

Recently, the Malaysian Prime Minister criticised Meta for removing his Facebook post related to Ismail Haniyeh and warned the platform, “to cease this display of cowardice and stop acting as instruments of the oppressive Zionist Israeli regime.”

Haniyeh’s assassination sparked widespread condemnation from Muslim leaders on social media, prompting calls for Israel to face consequences for its unrestrained aggression.

Hamas chief was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

Senior Hamas official, Khalil Al-Hayya stated that Haniyeh was killed by a missile. The witnesses reported the missile broke the window of the room before directly striking Haniyeh.