Turkey, Ankara: Turkey blocks Instagram: Infotech regulator announces ban. Criticism follows Fahrettin Altun's remarks on blocked condolence posts for Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh.

Turkey's infotech regulator announced today that it has blocked access to the social media platform Instagram. No reasons or duration for the ban were provided, and the platform’s mobile app is also inaccessible.

This decision comes after Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun criticized Instagram on Wednesday for allegedly blocking condolence posts about the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior official of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

This is censorship, pure and simple, stated Altun, the communications director for the Turkish presidency, on X. He added that Instagram had not cited any policy violations for its actions.

There has been no immediate response from Instagram's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc, regarding the ban or Altun’s comments.