ISTANBUL — The Turkish government imposed financial penalties on major social media platforms Tuesday after the companies did not comply with a controversial new law that opponents say would limit free speech online if followed.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube were each fined 10 million Turkish liras, about $1.18 million, for failing to appoint local representatives in Turkey per legislation passed in July requiring the platforms to comply with content removal requests and store user data within the country, among other measures.