zeeshan khan
According to Meta, the company has been fined heavily for defying the Turkish government’s requests to restrict material on Facebook and Instagram.
After huge demonstrations broke out after the detention of Istanbul’s mayor, a major opponent, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration has been attempting to silence critics on the internet.
“We were recently penalized by the Turkish government as a result of our refusal to comply with their requests for limitations on content that is obviously in the public interest,” the business stated in a statement.
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The social media business just stated that the punishment was “substantial” and gave no further information about the material in controversy, although it failed to say the exact amount. The Turkish government has been contacted by the Reuters news agency for comment.
“Requests from the government to censor online speech and threats to shut down internet services are serious and stifle people’s freedom of expression,” Meta said.
The Turkish government has made a greater effort in recent years to regulate social media businesses. Social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, and X were blocked as demonstrations broke out when alternative Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on March 19.
According to the Media and Law Research Organization, around 700 individuals X accounts were blocked, including those of newspapers, journalists, student groups, and civil society organizations. It would object, X said.
Social media posts that were seen as endorsing the protests have resulted in dozens of arrests.
