VPNs Nord and Surfshark blocked in Turkey amidst Instagram ban

Instagram is still banned in Turkey, and the country is now blocking virtual private network (VPN) providers.

The Instagram ban was initiated on August 2nd, 2024, just after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh on July 31st, 2024. He was a key official of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

According to various media outlets, Instagram supposedly censored posts that expressed condolences for those grieving the death of Haniyeh.

As of August 5th, 2024, the ban was still going strong, with officials, such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling Instagram’s censorship “digital fascism,” ABC News reported.

“They cannot even tolerate photographs of Palestinian martyrs and immediately ban them,” Erdogan said at a human rights event. “We are confronted with a digital fascism that is disguised as freedom."

Turkey allegedly banned Meta’s social media platform in response to this censorship. However, the country did not explicitly state why the ban had been implemented.

Turkey blocks VPN providers

But now, the Freedom of Expression Association (IFOD), an organization focused on preventing and ending violations of the right to freedom of expression in Turkey, has revealed that the country is blocking some of the best VPNs – presumably to deter users from accessing banned platforms like Instagram.

IFOD uploaded an image to its website titled ‘VPN services blocked from Turkey.’ This list comprises 27 VPN providers, ranging from popular services like Surfshark to lesser-known ones like HideMyAss.

The 27 VPNs blocked in Turkey according to IFOD are:

Proton
Surfshark
TunnelBear
WARP
Psiphon
CyberGhost
IPVanish
Hotspot Shield
Nord
Express
Private Internet Access
HideMyAss
VPN 365
PureVPN
ZenVPN
Private Tunnel
Secure VPN
SurfEasy
Snap
TurboVPN
HideMe
Rely VPN
Speed VPN
VPN Unlimited
Hola VPN
Touch VPN
Super VPN

Interestingly, Surfshark's VPN product manager Justas Pukys said that "since December of last year, some of our users have been experiencing minor service disruptions in Turkey." However, Surfshark has not registered any increase in attempts to block its service, but the company is "closely monitoring the situation in case that changes."

Reportedly, providers like Proton VPN recorded a huge spike in sign-ups, and the company also observed a ninefold increase in the number of users in Turkey, David Peterson, General Manager of Proton VPN, told Techradar.

Banned, but at what cost

There are approximately 58 million Turkish users of the platform, and despite talks of Turkish officials meeting with people from Meta, the ban remains.

Now, there is seemingly a silent ban being placed on VPN providers, which hinders users from accessing banned platforms via alternative means.

However, users aren’t the only ones paying the price for this ban, as this decision is a burden on the Turkish economy.

💥 Yasaklanan Instagram, Yoksullaşan Türkiye!

🔴Instagram’ın kapalı kalmasının Türkiye ekonomisine günlük maliyeti: 1,9 milyar lira.

🔴 “Kamuda Tasarruf Paketi”nin toplam boyutu 100 milyar liraydı. Eğer Instagram sadece 52 gün kapalı kalırsa Türkiye tasarruf paketi kadar zarar… pic.twitter.com/0eTogi92gp
undefined Dr. Buğra Gökce (@gokcebugra) August 4, 2024

The president of the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), Dr. Bugra Gokce, posted on X that “The daily cost of Instagram being closed to the Turkish economy is 1.9 billion lira.” This equates to roughly $57 million.

Surfshark recommends "keeping the app installed on devices at all times and using VPN services when available." If that doesn't work, the VPN provider suggests trying a manual connection or contacting a support agent.

"Overall, Turkey has been known for a while for its censorship attempts that escalated throughout the past year. Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker shows that Turkey has had 13 internet restrictions since 2015, making it the 4th country in Asia in terms of the number of internet restrictions," Pukys said.

"Three of Turkey’s past restrictions were related to protests, one to elections, and nine to other political turmoil."

"What is extremely troubling is the country's actions towards banning services during particularly worrying times, such as their decision to block access to Twitter for about 12 hours, as people scrambled to find loved ones after devastating earthquakes," Pukys concludes.

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