Turkey, Several Asian Countries Increase Pressures on Social Media

Turkey as well as several Asian countries will exert more pressure on social media platforms to restrict critical content, according to news reports Today.

InAnkara, the companies that fail to comply with Turkey's new law, will be hit with escalating consequences through May, including advertising bans and bandwidth cuts of up to 90%.

In contrast, some big tech firms such as Google and YouTube explained that, it will set up an office in Turkey, following legislation passed in July that requires major social media companies to appoint a local representative.

On other hand, Vietnam recently warned Facebook that its service would be shut down in the country if the company did not agree to tighten content restrictions. Facebook had acceded to a similar demand in April to censor more "anti-state" posts, but the government is now seeking tougher measures.

In Philippines, Facebook in late September shut down 64 fake accounts linked to the military and police that had criticized political opposition and human rights groups. President Rodrigo Duterte blasted the move in an online news conference that month, according to Nikkei Asia report.

In Russia, the lawmakers presented a draft legislation to parliament in November that would allow the government to restrict access to U.S. social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter that take down posts from Russian state media.