Erdogan criticises social media calling 'digital fascism'

Istanbul: Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan fiercely criticised social media companies on Monday, saying they sought to "muzzle the Palestinian people's voices", after Turkey blocked access to Instagram last week.

Turkey was holding talks with Instagram on Monday after the move, which followed a top Turkish official's accusation that the social media site blocked condolence posts over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Turkey has denounced Israel's attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate ceasefire, and criticised what it calls unconditional support for Israel by the West.

"We are facing a digital fascism that has no tolerance for even the photographs of Palestinian martyrs and bans them immediately," Erdogan said, citing the killing of Haniyeh.

"They are resorting to every means to hide Israel's cruelty and muzzle the Palestinian people's voices.

Especially social media companies have become militants," he said in a speech in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Israel and its Western allies say Hamas is a terrorist organisation, a view rejected by predominantly Muslim Turkey, which is a NATO member.

"As a result of the block to Instagram in Türkiye, millions of people are being deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends, and businesses are no longer able to reach their customers in the same way," a spokesperson for Meta, which owns the social media platform, said.

"We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services."

On the day of Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran last week, the Turkish presidency's head of communications, Fahrettin Altun, criticised Instagram for alleged "censorship, pure and simple," over what he called its decision to bar condolence posts for the Hamas leader.

Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran's new president. Israel has not claimed responsibility.

Turkey ranks fifth in the world in terms of Instagram usage, with more than 57 million users, following India, the U.S., Brazil and Indonesia, according to data platform Statista.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a post on X that Turkey expressed certain sensitivities regarding compliance with Turkish laws in a previous meeting with representatives of Instagram last week.

Among those unhappy with the ban was 34-year-old Basak, who runs a handmade jewelry design account on Instagram with more than 30,000 followers, saying it had disrupted her business.

"Some of my customers contacted me by accessing Instagram through VPN and other social media platforms, but my chance of accessing new people and potential customers stopped," she said.

Internet monitor NetBlocks estimates the Instagram access ban cost some $11.5 million daily to the Turkish economy.

Turkish e-commerce businesses association ETID estimates that Turkish businesses generate some 900 million lira ($27 million) in revenue from Instagram daily, vice chairman Emre Ekmekci said.

If the ban continues, there will be a gradual shift in both sellers and users to other platforms, he said.

"We are hopeful the meeting will be positive and the parties will be able to find a solution. This is not just a political issue, there is also a commercial impact."