\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-2162137058-e1723210299472.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s decision to block access to Instagram has hit female entrepreneurs who rely on the popular social media application to sell everything from cookies to bed sheets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been using Instagram to showcase our products and reach out to a wider client base,\u201d said Ezgi Akincilar, founder of online retailer Antalya\u2019dan Iste, which sells food products from honey and jam to canned artichokes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Akincilar estimates that she owes more than half of her revenue to users who find her via Instagram. \u201cThere\u2019s no other platform to take its place,\u201d she said by phone.<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s internet regulator halted Instagram access on Aug. 2 without explaining why. It came after a senior aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the platform for what he described as \u201ccensorship\u201d of posts related to the death of Ismail Haniyeh, political chief of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Transport and Infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu later cited broader motives including \u201cattacks\u201d against Turkey\u2019s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, unauthorized betting and \u201cposts of a sexual nature.\u201d He also accused Instagram of censorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instagram\u2019s owner, Meta Platforms Inc, didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
Sinem Kocabas, who a year ago received an entrepreneurship award by state-run Halkbank, says sales have all but stopped. Her \u201cDear Deer Love\u201d venture, which sells baby products such as mattresses and bed clothes, owes about 60% of its revenue to business flow from Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is losing money. Some companies may even shut down if this ban isn\u2019t lifted soon,\u201d Kocabas said.<\/p>\n
The ban comes at a delicate moment for Turkish businesses, with domestic demand slowing after the central bank hiked its benchmark interest rate to 50% from 8.5% in less than a year to rein in inflation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spending on credit cards, widely used for online purchases, has been flat since April even for essential items, the central bank said in a report on Thursday. Discretionary spending has been contracting in real terms.<\/p>\n
The decision to block Instagram may \u201cdisrupt communications and result in client dissatisfaction,\u201d said Esra Bezircioglu, chairwoman of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey. Such disruptions would create \u201cstrategic hardship\u201d for businesses, she said in an emailed response to Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
The prospect of the ban being lifted is uncertain. On Aug. 6 the minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, cited \u201csignificant progress\u201d in talks with Instagram, without giving details. Social media companies \u201cshall abide by the laws of our country,\u201d Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a tight spot,\u201d said Fatma Gonca Yurtseven, a survivor of the February 2023 twin earthquakes in the southern Hatay province. She\u2019s part of a collective of women who sell local produce online under the \u201cHatay Bohcasi\u201d brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have any other channels for this business,\u201d Yurtseven said. \u201cMany women are earning their living from this. We don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n