ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused social media platforms of “digital fascism” on Monday for allegedly censoring photographs of Palestinian “martyrs.”
The Turkish leader’s comments came as Turkish officials were engaged in discussions with representatives of the social media platform, Instagram, to reinstate access to millions of its users in Turkey.
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The Information and Communication Technologies Authority barred access to Instagram on Aug.2 without providing a reason. Government officials said the ban was imposed because Instagram failed to abide by Turkish regulations.
Several media reports said however, that the action was in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. It was the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country which has a track record of censoring social media and other online platforms.
“They cannot even tolerate photographs of Palestinian martyrs and immediately ban them,” Erdogan said at a human rights event. “We are confronted with a digital fascism that is disguised as freedom."
Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, Erdogan has described the group as a liberation movement.
Erdogan went on to state that social media websites were allegedly allowing all kinds of propaganda by groups considered terrorists in Turkey.
“We have tried to establish a line of dialogue through our relevant institutions. However, we have not yet been able to achieve the desired cooperation,” Erdogan said.
The transportation and infrastructure minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said Turkish authorities had met with representatives of the Meta-owned company last week and held a fresh round of talks on Monday without reaching a resolution.
“We didn't get the exact result we wanted,” Uraloglu said. “We don't think there will be any progress today.”
Instagram has more than 57 million users in Turkey, a nation of 85 million people, according to We Are Social Media, a digital marketing news company based in New York.
The Electronic Commerce Operators’ Association estimates that Instagram and other social media platforms per day generate about 930 million Turkish lira ($27 million) worth of e-commerce.