Sivas Cumhuriyet University (SCÜ) Faculty of Communication New Media and Communication Department Head Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sefer Darıcı made important warnings about the developments following the access restrictions to Instagram and the potential dangers of VPN use. Darıcı stated that after Instagram was closed to access, many users tried to access the platform by resorting to methods such as VPN. He emphasized that although this situation provided access in the short term, it carried serious security risks in the long term. He stated that some VPN applications not only provide access to banned sites, but can also steal passwords from the user's phone and obtain confidential information by taking screenshots. Darıcı stated that closing Instagram also had negative effects on the psychology of users.
“Don’t lose your accounts while trying to access Instagram”
Stating that unreliable applications can take over accounts, Darıcı said, “It is seen that people try to access Instagram via VPN or using different methods after the restriction. This can provide us with access at first. However, when structures used for different purposes are loaded onto our phones, they can cause us serious problems in the future. Some VPN applications may not only have access to banned sites as they seem, but also contain the potential to take and send various password and combination operations in the background or even screenshots on your phone. In this sense, attention should be paid to the programs loaded. Because you think you are loading a single program, loading it for a single purpose, but there may be another structure running in the background. I would say don’t lose your accounts while trying to access Instagram.”
“You can see all your information in a different place at once”
Darıcı stated that trying to find different alternatives to access Instagram can put people in a situation they never expected, and said, “Although VPN seems like a program that facilitates access and provides access, it can run a background application that starts emptying bank accounts in the background or tries to access both your bank account and credit card information in any way, allowing you to do transactions you have never done. In addition, it should not be seen only as cards and money in our accounts. At the same time, many different organizations can use them for different purposes. Even a terrorist organization can use this for its own purposes. You can see your name in a different place and all your information in a different place at once. While trying to find different alternatives to access Instagram, you may find yourself in a situation you never expected. For this reason, you need to pay attention to what you allow in the installed programs, whether those installed programs are really reliable, what you actually say okay to while doing these installed programs and other transactions related to the application.”
Access restriction caused holiday organizations to be cancelled
Darıcı emphasized that people even cancelled their holiday organizations after Instagram access was restricted and said, “While people were sharing daily, in a sense, they were also satisfying their desire to be liked about what they shared with their own environment. Humans are creatures that want to be liked. Humans are creatures that want to share some elements related to their own lives. In this sense, the likes they receive from what they share are actually an element that makes them happy, even if they are not aware of it. With the closure of Instagram, the inability to share these posts actually caused this desire to be liked to worsen and made people unhappy. It is possible that this also had an effect on the reactions given. People cancelled their holiday organizations with Instagram being closed. Being able to share is much more important than the reality they live in. The real reality for that person is the sharing they make. Not the moment they live in and see with their own eyes. The fact that people's opinions, views and emotional states in terms of what the reality is in their perception of reality have actually changed has made Instagram a very important issue for them in a sense.”
