Turkish authorities have blocked access to Instagram over what reports attributed to the social media platform's removal of condolences posts over the assassination of of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), which regulates the internet, announced the block early Friday but did not provide a reason, and it was not initially clear for how long. Sabah newspaper said access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killling of Haniyeh.

Turkey has banned Instagram following a row over the site's alleged crackdown on users sharing condolences for late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The country's Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the decision on its website on Friday, but gave no official reason for the ban. "Instagram.com has been blocked by the decision of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority dated 02/08/2024 and numbered 490.05.01.2024.-608983," the site said.

Turkey’s internet regulator blocked access to Instagram as a senior aide to country's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the social media platform for “censorship” of posts related to Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh’s death. The country's Information and Communication Technologies Authority didn’t give a reason for the move. Read more: Intel lays off 15,000 employees.

Turkey blocks access to Instagram platform but gives no reasonMost Recent ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has blocked access to social media platform Instagram, the infotech regulator said on Friday, without stating a reason or duration for the ban, which also left the platform's mobile app inaccessible. The move follows comments on Wednesday by Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun, criticising the platform for what he called its decision to block condolence posts on the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, a key official of Palestinian militant group Hamas. "This is censorship, pure and...