Major fine for Facebook from Turkey: Penalty over İmamoğlu protests on Facebook
Turkey has imposed a massive fine on Facebook's parent company, Meta, on the grounds that it did not remove content related to the protests that began following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
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As protests continue following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, it has been reported that Turkey has imposed a massive fine on Meta for failing to remove content on Facebook.
According to the US-based news site Politico, Turkish authorities demanded that Facebook remove posts related to the protests and suspend certain accounts. However, Meta was fined after refusing to restrict content deemed to be in the public interest.
A Meta official stated to Politico, "We tried to push back against government requests to restrict content as much as possible, but we were penalized as a result." The official noted that Turkish authorities had threatened to shut down social media platforms, and that this situation could have serious consequences for freedom of expression.
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In recent years, Turkey has been attempting to exert greater control over platforms, especially during periods when criticism of the government on social media has increased. According to content reports Meta has submitted to Turkey, there were 5,677 content removal requests from Turkish authorities last year alone.
Meanwhile, the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, is going through a similar process. It is reported that pressure from the government on this platform is increasing, with some accounts belonging to journalists and opposition figures having been suspended recently.