Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz slams Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on X after he lashed out at social media platforms on Monday, accusing them of "digital fascism" for allegedly censoring images of Palestinian "martyrs" and condolences over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority blocked access to Instagram on August 2 without providing an explanation. Government officials stated the ban was imposed because Instagram failed to comply with Turkish regulations.
However, several media reports suggested the action was in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users expressing condolences over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday, July 31.
"They cannot even tolerate photographs of Palestinian martyrs and immediately ban them," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. "We are confronted with a digital fascism that is disguised as freedom. They are resorting to every means to hide Israel's cruelty and muzzle the Palestinian people's voices. Especially social media companies have literally become militants," he added.
Instagram has more than 57 million users in Turkey, a nation of 85 million people, according to the We Are Social media company. The Electronic Commerce Operators' Association estimates that Instagram and other social media platforms generate about 930 million Turkish lira ($27 million) worth of e-commerce per day.
The anti-Semitic dictator @RTErdogan attacked the US and Western countries yesterday, saying they were "taken hostage by the Zionists in Israel."
Erdoğan, the ones taken hostage are the citizens of Turkey, trapped in your dictatorship. You blocked Instagram for 57 million users… pic.twitter.com/EOgELcp2G4
— ישראל כ"ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 6, 2024
Katz criticized the decision to block Instagram on social media on August 2, stating it showed how Erdogan "is turning Turkey into a dictatorship just because of his support for the murderers and rapists of Hamas, against the stance of the entire free world." On August 6, Katz responded to Erdogan's antisemitic claim Western countries were "taken hostage by the Zionists in Israel" on X, "Erdogan, the ones taken hostage are the citizens of Turkey, trapped in your dictatorship. You blocked Instagram for 57 million users in your country but left access to your own Instagram account."
Erdogan, speaking at an event on human rights education hosted by his Islamist AKP political party, went on to claim that social media websites were allowing all kinds of propaganda by groups considered terrorists in Turkey.
Turkey's Transportation and Infrastructure Minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said Turkish authorities met with Instagram representatives last week and were holding a fresh round of talks on Monday.
Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza, Erdogan, who met with Haniyeh in Istanbul in April, has described Hamas as a liberation movement and repeatedly compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
The Turkish leader appeared to threaten to invade Israel, saying at a meeting of his political party that Turkey must be "very strong so that Israel can't do these things to the Palestinians." In early May, Erdogan halted his country's robust trade ties with Israel.
Soon after the war in Gaza began, Turkey, a NATO member, began blocking any cooperation between NATO and Israel, which holds partner status in the military alliance, Reuters reported last week.
