Turkey Lifts Instagram Ban After Negotiations with Meta

Turkey has resumed access to Instagram, owned by Meta, after a temporary ban that started on August 2. The announcement was made by Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, who confirmed that the app would be accessible again from 9:30 PM Turkish time.

According to NetBlocks, a cybersecurity monitoring organization, Instagram is gradually becoming available on Turkish internet providers following discussions between Turkish authorities and Meta. These talks focused on removing terrorist content and reinstating accounts that were unfairly closed.

The ban was initially imposed after a Turkish official accused Instagram of censoring condolence messages related to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Uraloglu explained that the government blocked Instagram because the company did not respond to requests concerning policies related to catalog crimes. He added that Instagram has now agreed to address these issues and collaborate on user censorship concerns.

While Uraloglu did not specify the exact crimes or censorship topics discussed, Instagram has yet to respond to requests for comment from TechCrunch.