By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey blocked access to social media platform Instagram on Friday for failing to comply with the country’s “laws and rules”, a government minister said.

The move came after a senior Turkish official accused the platform of blocking condolence posts following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas. “We warned Instagram about certain offences. We want somerules to be followed … We intervene when they disregard legalrules and public sensitivities.” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said. “We are in contact with them. Our sensitivities are clear,as soon as they correct those shortcomings, we will remove theban. This is a country with laws and rules.” Uraloglu added. He did not clarify what the shortcomings were. Access to Instagram has been restricted in Turkey following the ban implemented by authorities following a court order on Friday, internet observatory NetBlocks said.Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun on Wednesday criticised Instagram for what he called its decision to block condolence posts after Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. “This is censorship, pure and simple,” Altun, thecommunications director of the Turkish presidency, said on X.

There was no immediate comment from Instagram parent MetaPlatforms Inc on either the ban or Altun’s comments. Turkey’s Information Technologies and CommunicationAuthority (BTK) published the Aug. 2 decision on its website.