DIGIVESTASI - Meta finally spoke up about the blocking of Instagram in Turkey some time ago. Meta stated that it will continue to try to restore Instagram services in Turkey.

Meta's spokesperson said that due to the blocking of Instagram in Turkey, millions of people lost a way to connect with family and friends, and businesses were unable to reach their customers in the same way.

"We will continue to make every effort to restore our services," a Meta spokesperson said, citing Reuters, Monday (5/8).

This statement comes after Instagram was blocked in Turkey since Friday (2/8). Previously, Turkey blocked access to Instagram after content related to Hamas and Palestine was removed following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly criticized Meta, calling the action an attempt to "silence the Palestinian people." According to him, the removal of the content was a form of digital fascism perpetrated by Meta.

"We are facing digital fascism that does not tolerate even photos of Palestinian martyrs and bans them immediately," Erdogan said, referring to Haniyeh's murder.

"They use all means to hide Israeli atrocities and silence the voices of the Palestinian people. Especially social media companies have become militant," he continued.

Turkey and Instagram met last week. During the meeting, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu raised the issue of compliance with Turkish law, as quoted by NTV. Even so, talks with Instagram officials continued on Monday (5/8).

According to data from Statista, Turkey ranks fifth in the world in Instagram usage, with more than 57 million users, after India, the US, Brazil and Indonesia.

Basak (34), a local who runs a handmade jewelry design account on Instagram with more than 30,000 followers, admitted that the block disrupted his business.

"Some of my customers reached out through VPNs and other social media platforms, but the opportunity to access potential new customers came to a halt," he said.

Internet monitor NetBlocks estimates that the Instagram ban costs the Turkish economy around US$11.5 million (Rp186.5 billion) per day.

Emre Ekmekci, Vice Chairman of Turkish e-commerce business association ETID, estimated Turkish businesses generate about 900 million liras (US$437.84 billion) in revenue from Instagram every day.

"We hope the meeting will produce positive results and the parties will be able to find a solution. This is not just a political issue, there is also a commercial impact," he said.

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