On Tuesday, Meta Platforms announced that it was happy to see Turkey reopen access to its Instagram social media platform.
TakeAway Points:
- Meta Platforms said that it welcomed Turkey’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.
- Turkey blocked access to the platform on August 2 for failing to comply with the country’s “laws and rules”.
- Universal Music Group announced an expanded agreement with Facebook-parent Meta Platforms to create new opportunities for its artists and songwriters across Meta’s social platforms.
- According to UMG, the renewed agreement also addresses the issue of compensation for artists and songwriters.
Turkey reopens access to its Instagram platform
“We are pleased to see that Instagram is back up and running in Turkey… 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.
“This includes removing content that violates our Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy and applying newsworthy allowances where appropriate,” the spokesperson said.
Turkey blocked access to the platform on August 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 the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The ban triggered protests from users and small businesses, which 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 criticised the Instagram ban, broadcaster Haberturk and other media said.
Access restored
Turkey restored access to Instagram on Saturday following a nine-day block after Ankara said the U.S. company agreed to cooperate with authorities to address the government’s concerns.
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 Turkey 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.
Turkey 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.
Meta expands its music licensing agreement with Universal Music
Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s biggest music label, announced on Monday an expanded agreement with Facebook-parent Meta Platforms to create new opportunities for its artists and songwriters across Meta’s social platforms.
“UMG was the first major music company to license Facebook back in 2017 and this new agreement will further expand the possibilities for music within the meta ecosystem,” said the company that represents artists such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.
The agreement concerns all of Meta’s major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and, for the first time, WhatsApp.
The renewed agreement also addresses the issue of compensation for artists and songwriters, UMG said.
In late July, the music label said it had ended a partnership with Meta for the streaming of premium music videos. It said this type of product was less popular with Facebook’s user base than other music products.
The $54 billion group behind more than a third of the market had reached a new licensing agreement with TikTok in May, restoring its songs and artists to the social media platform.
Last month, UMG’s shares shed more than 23% in a single day after weaker-than-expected streaming and subscription revenues for the second quarter disappointed investors.
