Photo shows Turkey’s Deputy Transport and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan

“We will never allow digital fascism and anarchism to dominate in Turkey,” the country’s Deputy Transport and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan said in a tweet.

Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority has imposed advertising bans on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest under a new social media law, according to decisions published in the country’s Official Gazette on Tuesday.

The law, which critics say will muzzle dissent, requires social media companies to appoint local representatives in Turkey. On Monday, Facebook Inc joined other companies in saying it would be appointing such a representative.

YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google, said a month ago it had decided to appoint a representative.

The decisions in the Official Gazette said the advertising bans went into effect from Tuesday. Twitter, its live-streaming app Periscope, and image sharing app Pinterest were not immediately available to comment.

The law allows authorities to remove content from platforms, rather than blocking access as they did in the past. The move has caused concern as people turn more to online platforms after Ankara tightened its grip on mainstream media.

In previous months Facebook, YouTube and Twitter had faced fines in Turkey for not complying with the law. Companies that do not follow the law will ultimately have their bandwidth slashed, essentially blocking access.

The law applies to any social media site that is accessed more than a million times per day in Turkey.

As part of the law, Turkey has fined social media platforms ₺40 million ($5.43 million) so far under the first two phases of the process.

After the fines, advertisement activities are banned, and in the last two phases, the country will limit bandwidth by 50 per cent and up to 90 per cent.

If the social media firms appoint local representatives, 75 per cent of the fine will be waived and the bandwidth reduction will end, according to the law.