A service from the pro-government press: The benefits of the Instagram ban
Yeni Şafak, which once ran headlines about gout when meat prices rose, has now dedicated its front page on the fifth day of the Instagram ban to the 'benefits of a social media detox.'
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It has been five days since the most widely used social media platform in Turkey was blocked under the exceptional authority granted to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).
Although officials initially cited "violations of catalog crimes" as the reason, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu's statement yesterday, "Look, they cannot even tolerate condolence posts regarding Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was brutally murdered," served as the first explicit mention of the underlying cause of the crisis.
There have been no results yet from the meetings held with Instagram officials. As the continuation of the ban and the ongoing uncertainty increased the backlash from NGOs and citizens protesting the restriction of freedom, the task fell to the pro-government newspaper Yeni Şafak.
THERE IS ALSO A SUGGESTION: YOU SHOULD GET A HOBBY TOO!
In its front-page story, the newspaper—which portrayed Instagram, a platform heavily used for trade and communication, as if it were merely a place for people to share their personal lives—stated, "From those canceling vacation plans because they won't be able to post from their hotels, to those giving up on celebrating birthdays, and even those falling into such deep depression that they refuse to eat, many people have begun to struggle with the normal flow of life," and rolled up its sleeves to 'help'.
Under the headline "This is called voluntary captivity," the paper used the opinion of a clinical psychologist to announce the 'good news' that the Instagram ban could be an opportunity to pick up new hobbies!
THE NEW TAX IS ALSO A 'TURKISH WALL' AGAINST CHINA
The task of defending the new tax imposed on online shopping from abroad did not go unfulfilled either; the newspaper Hürriyet stepped in.
As is known, with the amendment published in the Official Gazette, the monthly customs exemption limit, which had been applied at 150 euros until now, has been abolished and an additional tax has been introduced. In other words, until yesterday, if your purchases remained under 150 euros within a month, you were already exempt from tax. You are no longer exempt.
For goods arriving via mail or express cargo that are not of a commercial quantity or nature, with a value not exceeding 30 euros, and for medicines with a value not exceeding 1500 euros, the tax rate will be increased from 18 percent to 30 percent if they arrive directly from European Union (EU) countries, and from 30 percent to 60 percent if they arrive from other countries. It is noted that the tax increase, which reaches 100 percent for non-EU countries, specifically targets Chinese companies like Temu and Shein, which have grown significantly in Turkey recently.
However, Hürriyet saw fit to present this heavy tax blow, which is said to effectively end international online shopping in Turkey, with the headline "A Turkish Wall against Chinese goods," implying that it only applies to Chinese products.
REACTION FROM TÜSİAD ON THE FIFTH DAY
Meanwhile, a reaction to the ban, which has entered its fifth day, also came from Orhan Turan, Chairman of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD). Participating in a program on the CNBC-e channel, Turan limited his response to the question regarding the Instagram ban by saying, "I do not find the restriction of Instagram to be correct."