A new poll has revealed that over 40% of people in Turkey support bans on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
According to the MetroPOLL company's survey, when asked, "Do you support the banning of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok?" 42.6% responded "yes," while 53% opposed the idea.
Commenting on the results, MetroPOLL founder Prof. Özer Sencar said in a social media post, “It is especially useful for politicians to know our people. Almost half of the public approves of social media bans.”
The survey also provided insights into how political preferences affect attitudes toward social media bans. A significant majority of ruling AKP (62.7%) and its ally MHP (54.6%) voters backed the bans. In contrast, only 24.4% of the main opposition CHP voters and 18.5% of the secular nationalist İYİ Party voters supported restrictions. Nearly 35% of pro-Kurdish DEM Party voters also expressed support for the bans, though margins of error were higher in these specific categories.
However, given that the revealed survey consists of a single yes-or-no question, it offers limited insight into the public's broader views on the government's online censorship policies.
Online censorship in Turkey
This poll comes after a recent incident where Turkey imposed a nine-day ban on Instagram following the platform’s restriction of Turkish government officials’ posts related to the assassinated Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh. The ban was lifted on August 12 after negotiations between the government and Instagram.
Turkey restores access to Instagram after Hamas row
Turkey has a history of blocking major online platforms, including YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and Wikipedia, with censorship increasing in recent years. A 2020 social media law mandates platforms to appoint legal representatives in Turkey and store user data domestically. Non-compliance leads to penalties such as bandwidth throttling and fines.
More than one million URLs were blocked in Turkey between 2014 and 2024, including 44,000 news items, according to a recent report by the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD). (VK)