Turkey blocks access to Instagram. It’s in response to removal of posts on Hamas chief, reports say

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday, the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country. Uraloglu’s deputy, Omer Fatih Sayan, wrote on X: “We will do what is needed to establish a social media that respects our values, is free of disinformation, and is cleaner and more secure.” There was no immediate comment from Instagram, which has over 50 million users in Turkey, a nation with a population of 85 million. Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a member of Turkey’s main opposition party, denounced the decision to block Instagram, accusing the communications authority of acting like a “censorship unit.” “Social media is a platform that everyone uses for many purposes, including for commerce and communicating,” Imamoglu wrote on X. “It is unacceptable that a platform used by the entire country is arbitrarily shut down one morning.” Turkey has a track record of censoring social media and websites.