Turkey imposed advertising bans Tuesday on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest for not complying with a new law requiring social media companies to appoint a local representative to handle content removal orders.
The rules that went into effect in October have drawn criticism from human rights and media freedom groups who argue Turkey’s government is trying to stifle dissent.
The law calls for a local representative to respond to requests to remove content that violates privacy and personal rights within 48 hours.
Facebook said Monday it would appoint such an envoy, while highlighting in a statement the need for users to be able to freely express themselves.
Other companies have complied with the rules, including YouTube, TikTok, Dailymotion and VKontakte.
Any company that does not comply faces the possibility of having its bandwidth reduced, making it difficult for users to access the service.
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