The Turkish government has made a concerted effort to restrict opposition voices on social media, following a recent wave of protests across the country, and Meta has now been fined for failing to adhere to the government's demands.

The American tech giant - which owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products - said in a statement: "We pushed back on requests from the Turkish government to restrict content that is clearly in the public interest, and have been fined by them as a consequence."

Meta has not revealed that amount it's been fined. However, the company has confirmed that it was a "substantial" sum of money.

Meta said: "Government requests to restrict speech online alongside threats to shut down online services are severe and have a chilling effect on people’s ability to express themselves."

Earlier this year, meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to scrap independent fact-checkers on Facebook and Instagram.

The Meta CEO claimed that the old process was “too politically biased”, arguing that fact-checkers “destroyed more trust than they have created".

In a video accompanying a blog post, he said: “We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US…

“The fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created – especially in the US.

“Over the next couple of months, we’re going to phase in a more comprehensive community notes system.”