Ankara imposed a ban on ads on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest after it failed to appoint local legal representatives in Turkey under a new social media law, according to decisions published on Tuesday.
Under the law, social media companies that do not hire such representatives are subject to a series of penalties, including the latest move from the Turkish Information and Communication Technology Authority (BTK).
The law allows Turkish authorities to remove content from the platforms, rather than blocking access as they have done in the past.
And the recent decisions in the country's official gazette said: The ban on advertisements has come into effect as of Tuesday.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure and Chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Authority (Umar Fatih Sayan) Ömer Fatih Sayan said: The bandwidth through Twitter and Pinterest is reduced by 50 percent in April and by 90 percent in May.
Twitter said last month it would close its Periscope app by March due to reduced usage.
Sayan said: We are determined to do everything necessary to protect data, privacy and the rights of our nation, and we will never allow digital fascism and ignoring the rules to prevail in Turkey, echoing strict comments by President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan).
“We hope that Twitter and Pinterest will take the necessary steps to quickly recruit local legal representatives,” said Sayan.
On Monday, Facebook said that it had begun the process of appointing a legal entity in Turkey, joining the LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Dailymotion and VKontakte platforms, which agreed to establish legal entities in Turkey.
The YouTube platform, owned by Google, said a month ago: It adheres to the new law, which Ankara says: It strengthens domestic oversight of foreign companies.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have faced 40 million Turkish liras ($ 5.35 million) in fines for non-compliance in previous months.
Companies that do not adhere to the law face a reduction in their bandwidth, which makes the use of their platforms very slow.
Last week, Erdogan said: Those who control the data can create digital dictatorships by ignoring democracy, law, rights and freedoms, and pledged to defend what he described as the country's cyber home.
Authorities, such as the Turkish Information and Communication Technology Authority (BTK), the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) and the VDK, control the banning of advertisements.