Turkish authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a woman accused of “inciting hatred” and “insulting the president” after she publicly criticized a nationwide ban on Instagram.
In a street interview posted on a YouTube channel last week, the woman criticized the ban, calling it “wrong” and asserting that “the president cannot ban Instagram as he wishes.”
A local court ordered her arrest after the head of Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, RTUK, condemned street interviews broadcast on social media, alleging that they “manipulate public opinion.”
Monday’s arrest warrant follows the Turkish government’s decision on August 2 to block access to Instagram in the country, citing the platform’s failure to adhere to laws concerning public sensitivities as the reason for the ban.
Turkish officials accused Instagram of censorship and of blocking messages of “condolence for the martyr Haniyeh.”
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas and a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran on Wednesday.
The ban was lifted on Saturday after Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms, agreed to cooperate with Turkish authorities to address their concerns.
It is not clear that lifting the ban will have any impact on the arrest warrant