Opinion: Signal, Instagram, and X feel the heat of censorship by authoritarian governments

Judging from officials’ comments, it was either because Instagram wasn’t censoring enough content or because it was censoring too much. Erdogan’s (pic) communications director complained that Instagram was ‘preventing people from publishing messages of condolence’ for slain Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. — Reuters

This is a dizzying time for anyone who follows the subject of online censorship by authoritarian regimes.

The latest story on that front is Turkey’s decision over the weekend to stop blocking Instagram, which it did for nine days. The reasons for the short-lived ban were never entirely clear.