Turkey Could Block Telegram Access over Content Regulation Dispute
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey may block access to Telegram due to the messaging app's alleged failure to cooperate with the country's authorities, according to reports from local media.
The Turkish newspaper Takvim has reported that Telegram has not responded to over 1,000 notifications issued by Turkey's Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK).
These notifications reportedly requested the shutdown of channels involved in the sale of drugs, pornographic content, including videos involving children, as well as those facilitating illegal gambling and prostitution.
Ankara restored access to Instagram on Saturday, following a nine-day ban imposed earlier this month over alleged censorship concerns.
Turkey has a history of temporarily blocking various social media platforms and websites.
In 2014, Twitter and YouTube were banned for two weeks and two months, respectively.
Wikipedia was also banned in 2017 until the country’s Constitutional Court lifted the restriction in 2020.
Daily Sabah reported that Turkey is one of Telegram's largest markets, with around eight million users.
Earlier this month, the BTK restricted access to Instagram after Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications chief, accused the Meta-owned platform of censoring posts expressing condolences for Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in an attack in Tehran last month.
Altun criticized the platform, saying it was engaging in censorship and vowing to challenge social media platforms that "serve the global system of exploitation and injustice."
On Saturday, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Instagram had agreed to cooperate with Turkish authorities to address concerns over catalog crimes and censorship, leading to the lifting of the ban.