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Meta Welcomes Türkiye Lifting Access Ban on Instagram

Instagram app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Instagram app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Meta Welcomes Türkiye Lifting Access Ban on Instagram

Instagram app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Instagram app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Meta Platforms said on Tuesday that it welcomed Türkiye's reopening of access to its Instagram social media platform and that it continues to talk to Turkish authorities about content and accounts that violate its policies.

"We are pleased to see that Instagram is back up and running in Türkiye...We remain in dialogue with the authorities and will continue to take action on any violating content and accounts," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"This includes removing content that violates our Dangerous Organizations & Individuals policy and applying newsworthy allowances where appropriate," the spokesperson said.

Türkiye restored access to Instagram on Saturday following a nine-day block, after Ankara said the US company agreed to cooperate with authorities to address the government's concerns.

Türkiye blocked access to the platform on Aug. 2 for failing to comply with the country's "laws and rules".

The ban came after a top Turkish official accused the platform of blocking posts expressing condolences over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The ban triggered protests from users and small businesses, who reach their customers through the platform.

On Monday, a court in the city of Izmir ordered the arrest of a woman on charges of inciting hatred and insulting the president after she criticized the Instagram ban, broadcaster Haberturk and other media said.

Meta says that the company has not changed policies but agreed to review the accuracy of actions taken regarding policy-violating content and accounts in Türkiye in the days following Haniyeh's death.

It said that it applied newsworthy allowances to content posted by Turkish politicians as per its standard approach. Meta allows policy-violating content to be visible if it is newsworthy, or in the public interest.

Türkiye ranks fifth in the world in terms of Instagram usage, with more than 57 million users, following India, the United States, Brazil and Indonesia, according to data platform Statista.

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Technology

China Curbs Exports of Key Chipmaking Components to US

The flag of China is placed next to the elements of Gallium and Germanium on a periodic table, in this illustration picture taken on July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
The flag of China is placed next to the elements of Gallium and Germanium on a periodic table, in this illustration picture taken on July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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China Curbs Exports of Key Chipmaking Components to US

The flag of China is placed next to the elements of Gallium and Germanium on a periodic table, in this illustration picture taken on July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
The flag of China is placed next to the elements of Gallium and Germanium on a periodic table, in this illustration picture taken on July 6, 2023. (Reuters)

Beijing said Tuesday it would restrict exports to the United States of some key components in making semiconductors, after Washington announced curbs targeting China's ability to make advanced chips.

Among the materials banned from export are metals gallium, antimony and germanium, Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement that cited "national security" concerns.

Exports of graphite, another key component, will also be subject to "stricter reviews of end-users and end-uses", the ministry said.

"To safeguard national security interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation, China has decided to strengthen export controls on relevant dual-use items to the United States," Beijing said.

"Any organization or individual in any country or region violating the relevant regulations will be held accountable according to the law," it added.

In its own latest curbs, Washington on Monday announced restrictions on sales, without additional permission, to 140 companies including Chinese chip firms Piotech and SiCarrier.

They also impact Naura Technology Group, which makes chip production equipment, according to the US Commerce Department.

The move expands Washington's efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in advanced weapons systems and artificial intelligence.

The new US rules also include controls on two dozen types of chip-making equipment and three kinds of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors.

Beijing swiftly vowed to defend its interests, saying the United States "abuses export control measures" and has "hindered normal economic and trade exchanges".

- 'Weaponized' trade -

And on Tuesday, China said Washington had "politicized and weaponized economic, trade and technological issues" as it unveiled its own export curbs.

The moves also restrict the exports of "dual-use items to United States military users or for military purposes", Beijing said.

China accounts for 94 percent of the world's production of gallium -- used in integrated circuits, LEDs and photovoltaic panels -- according to a report by the European Union published this year.

For germanium, essential for fiber optics and infrared, China makes up 83 percent of production.

Beijing last year had already tightened restrictions on exporters of the metals, requiring them to provide information on the final recipient and give details about their end use.

But the curbs unveiled Tuesday now ban them outright.

It had also previously restricted curbs on exports of certain types of graphite --also key to making batteries for electric vehicles.

"The move is clearly a retaliatory strike at the US," Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told AFP.

"It drives home an important point which is that China is not completely passive (and) there are some cards it can play and hit the US with as well with regards to chips," Loh added.

These "back and forth curbs" could create supply chain disruption, as well as inflationary pressures, should they affect trade for third parties, said Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science from the National University of Singapore.

But while the metals play critical roles in high-tech industries, they are upstream in the supply chain, which means their immediate impact on production "is limited", Brady Wang, associate director at technology market research firm Counterpoint, told AFP.

"As the US-China trade tensions have persisted for some time, many intermediary manufacturers in the supply chain have been stockpiling these materials," Wang added.