Turkey's parliament is preparing to vote on a bill that could block Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube amid government efforts to take control of social media content, the Eurasian Times reported.

Under the bill, social media companies with over 1 million daily users in Turkey will have to establish an official presence in the country or appoint a representative in the country who will be legally responsible to the Turkish authorities.

Companies or their representatives will have to respond within 48 hours to complaints about publications that violate personal and privacy rights and will have to store user data in Turkey.

Failure to comply could result in the Turkish authorities levying heavy fines of up to $ 1.5 million and reducing the bandwidth of sites by up to 90%, effectively rendering them unusable. Besides, the bill will also allow courts to order Turkish news sites to remove content within 24 hours.

In 17 years of ruling Turkey, Erdogan managed to consolidate control over traditional media. Social media remains the only platform he has to take control of.

Earlier in July, Erdogan appeared to have been shocked by social media comments on Twitter criticizing his daughter and son-in-law after the birth of their fourth child.

According to a Guardian report, Twitter received 6,073 requests from the Turkish government to remove content, covering 8,993 accounts in the first 6 months of 2019. Twitter granted 5% of requests and rejected the rest.

While thousands of people are arrested in Turkey as a result of social media posts, usually on charges of insulting Turks, the president, or supporting terrorism, the new law marks a new direction for Ankara to exercise direct control over platforms.

Local journalists and experts say the proposals are causing concern in a country where space for independent journalism is limited and social media plays a key role in news coverage.