Turkey Reinstates Instagram After Nationwide Ban

After a week of restriction, Turkey has restored access to Instagram. The government had blocked the platform due to non-compliance with Turkish laws. Authorities assured that after negotiations with Instagram, the platform would crack down on criminal activities and ban accounts linked to terrorist organizations.

Turkey reinstated access to Instagram on Saturday night, ending a more than week-long nationwide block.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority had initially barred Instagram on August 2 without a specific reason. Government officials later disclosed that the ban was due to the platform's failure to comply with Turkish laws.

"In our talks with Instagram officials, we were assured our requests would be met, especially those regarding criminal activity, and given a promise that we would work together on a means of censoring users," Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey's transportation and infrastructure minister wrote on social media platform X Saturday.

Uraloglu also posted a video on X elaborating that the platform was to ensure compliance with Turkish law and intervene quickly and effectively in law violations. He added all accounts owned by "terrorist" organizations would be banned, singling out the PKK, PYD, and FETO.

The PKK is an outlawed group seeking autonomy in southeastern Turkey, while the PYD is a Syrian Kurdish political organization seen as a PKK affiliate. FETO, led by Fethullah Gulen, is accused of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup attempt.

Instagram has over 57 million users in Turkey, and social media platforms generate roughly 930 million Turkish lira (USD 27 million) in e-commerce daily, according to industry estimates.

(With inputs from agencies.)