Ankara has 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 Tuesday.
Under the law, social media companies that do not hire such representatives are subject to a series of sanctions, including the latest move by the Turkish ICT Authority (BTK).
The law allows Turkish authorities to remove content from platforms, rather than blocking access as they have done in the past.
The latest decisions in the country's official gazette said that the ban on advertising came into effect as of Tuesday.
"Twitter and Pinterest are reduced by 50 percent in April and by 90 percent in May,"said Ömer Fatih Sayan, deputy minister of transport and infrastructure and head of the ICT Authority (Omar Fatih Sayan).
Twitter said last month that it would close periscope by March due to declining usage.
"We are determined to do whatever is necessary to protect our nation's data, privacy and the rights of our nation, and we will never allow digital fascism and ignoring the rules to prevail in Turkey," Saiyan said, echoing the president's stern comments.
"We hope that Twitter and Pinterest will take steps to appoint local legal representatives quickly."
Facebook said on Monday that it had begunthe process of appointing a legal entity inTurkey, joining linkedin, YouTube, TechTalk, Dailymotion and VKontakte, which have agreed to establish legal entities in Turkey.
The YouTube platform, owned by Google, said a month ago that it was complying with the new law, which Ankara says strengthens domestic control over foreign companies.
In previous months, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube platforms faced fines of 40 million Turkish liras ($5.35 million) for non-compliance.
Companies that do not comply with the law face reduced bandwidth, making the use of their platforms too slow.
Erdogan said last week that those who control the data can create digital dictatorships by ignoring democracy, law, rights and freedoms, and vowed to defend what he described as the country's cyber homeland.
Authorities such as the Turkish ICT Authority (BTK), the Banking Regulatory and Control Agency (BDDK), the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) and the VDK Tax Inspection Board (VDK) control the ban on advertising.
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