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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has been trying to
restrict opposition voices on social media after widespread
protests erupted following the arrest of Istanbul's mayor, who's
a key rival.
“We pushed back on requests from the Turkish government to
restrict content that is clearly in the public interest, and
have been fined by them as a consequence,” the company said in a
statement.
The social media company did not disclose the size of the fine,
except to say it was “substantial” and did not provide any more
details about the content in question. The Associated Press has
approached the Turkish government for comment.
“Government requests to restrict speech online alongside threats
to shut down online services are severe and have a chilling
effect on people’s ability to express themselves,” Meta said.
In recent years the Turkish government has increasingly sought
to bring social media companies under its control. When protests
erupted following the March 19 arrest of opposition Istanbul
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, many social media platforms such as X,
Instagram and Facebook were blocked.
More than 700 individual X accounts, including those belonging
to journalists, media outlets, civil society organizations and
student groups, were blocked, according to the Media and Law
Studies Association. X said it would object.
Dozens have been arrested for social media posts deemed to be
supporting the protests.
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