Türkey blocks Instagram access

Move comes after Communications Director Fahrettin Altun criticized platform for censorship

The Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (TKM) on Friday said it blocked access to Instagram.

No reason was given for the move, but it came after the country's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun criticized the social media platform, saying it "is actively preventing people from posting messages of condolences for the passing of Hamas leader [Ismail] Haniyeh without citing any policy violations."

"This is censorship, pure and simple," he said in a post on X on Wednesday after Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran.

"We will defend freedom of speech against these platforms that have showed many times that they are primarily in the service of global exploitative system of injustice," he added.

Haniyeh was assassinated on Wednesday in the Iranian capital Tehran. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied its responsibility.