Access to the social media platform Instagram has been blocked in Turkey as of the morning of August 2 following a decision by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). The decision cited "violations of catalog crimes" as the reason for the ban, though the authority to enforce such a ban had been revoked by the Constitutional Court in January.
According to the BTK’s website, Instagram has been inaccessible since August 2. Information obtained by Medyascope indicated that the platform was shut down due to offenses including "insulting Atatürk," "promoting gambling and drugs," and "child sexual abuse." However, the Constitutional Court's ruling, which annulled the provision granting the BTK President the power to impose access bans for catalog crimes, will not take effect until October 10.
Altun condemns Instagram
On July 31, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun condemned Instagram on Twitter, alleging that the platform had unjustifiably blocked condolence messages regarding the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniye, which he labeled as censorship.
Legal and regulatory context
Article 8, paragraph four of the Internet Law grants the BTK President the authority to impose access bans for catalog crimes, including "encouraging suicide, child sexual abuse, facilitating drug use, supplying hazardous substances, obscenity, prostitution, providing opportunities for gambling, crimes defined in the Law on Crimes Committed Against Atatürk, crimes in the Law on Betting and Gambling on Football and Other Sports Competitions, and crimes in the Law on State Intelligence Services and the National Intelligence Organization." Despite the Constitutional Court’s decision to annul this authority, the President’s power to impose access bans in emergencies upon request from the Presidency or ministries remains in effect, subject to review by a Criminal Judgeship of Peace within 48 hours.
According to the law, access bans should be applied specifically to the infringing content (URL, etc.). However, if blocking the content does not prevent the violation, a site-wide ban can be imposed. The Constitutional Court's 2014 decision regarding YouTube ruled that complete bans on platforms constitute a violation of rights.
Last year, the entire website Ekşi Sözlük was blocked, with authorities claiming that despite compliance with court orders, violations continued.
Increasing access bans in Turkey
In 2023, nearly 210,000 URLs were subjected to access bans, according to the FreeWeb Internet Censorship Report. This included 5,641 social media posts and 743 social media accounts.
