ISTANBUL — Turkey, Vietnam and other emerging Asian countries have ramped up pressure on social media platforms to restrict critical content, with some degree of success.
Google-owned streaming service YouTube said in December that it will set up an office in Turkey, following legislation passed here in July that requires major social media companies to appoint a local representative. This is seen as a way to give teeth to requests to take down posts that authorities deem inappropriate.
Such demands force social media companies to make difficult choices between either allowing censorship on their platforms, with the bad publicity that entails in the West, or else facing serious consequences for their business in big emerging markets.
Companies that fail to comply with Turkey’s new law, for example, will be hit with escalating consequences through May, including advertising bans and…
