Now that Instagram is blocked in Turkey, Erdogan accuses social media of ‘digital fascism’

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.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority barred access to Instagram on August 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.”