Turkey blocked access to social media platform Instagram on Friday for failing to comply with the country's "laws and rules", a government minister said, according to Reuters.
The move came after a senior Turkish official accused the platform of blocking condolence posts following the elimination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran this week.
"We warned Instagram about certain offenses. We want some rules to be followed ... We intervene when they disregard legal rules and public sensitivities," Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, as quoted by Reuters.
"We are in contact with them. Our sensitivities are clear, as soon as they correct those shortcomings, we will remove the ban. This is a country with laws and rules," Uraloglu added, though he did not clarify what the shortcomings were.
Access to Instagram has been restricted in Turkey following the ban implemented by authorities following a court order on Friday, internet observatory NetBlocks said.
Turkish communications official Fahrettin Altun on Wednesday criticized Instagram for what he called its decision to block condolence posts after Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, saying, "This is censorship, pure and simple."
There was no immediate comment from Instagram parent company Meta.
Turkey regularly blocks access to websites and has in recent years tightened government control of the Internet and the judiciary, generating criticism from rights groups.
Moreover, Turkey has seen spiraling numbers of journalists, bloggers, and ordinary people - even schoolchildren - being taken to court on charges of insulting Erdogan and other top officials.
Examples include a 17-year-old teen who was charged with "insulting" President Recep Erdogan on Facebook, a Turkish philosophy professor who was accused of insulting Erdogan in an article in which he accused the president of corruption, and even the former Miss Turkey who was prosecuted for social media posts deemed to be critical of Erdogan.
In December of 2016, the head of a cafeteria at a Turkish opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper was detained for insulting Erdogan after saying he would refuse to serve him tea.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)