Competition watchdog issues injunction against Meta
ANKARA
Türkiye's competition board has taken decisive action against tech giant Meta, issuing a temporary injunction over concerns related to data sharing practices between its Instagram and Threads platforms.
The move comes after an investigation was launched last December, during which the competition board scrutinized Meta's activities. In a recent statement, the board announced the imposition of the injunction "on suspicion of abusing its dominant position by connecting Threads and Instagram applications."
"It was evaluated that Meta's combination of user data from users who created Threads profiles based on their Instagram accounts, without providing users with a confirmation option, would cause irreparable harm," the statement said.
Highlighting Meta's extensive data accumulation over the years, the watchdog emphasized how this has enabled the parent company to develop services and hindered competitors' access to advertisers and financial resources.
"In this context, it was determined that Meta's activities created an entry barrier in the market... and this increased the company's market power," read the statement.
The precautionary decision entails preventing the combination of obtained data.
This is not the first time Meta has faced regulatory scrutiny in Türkiye. The competition authority previously imposed a daily fine of 4.8 million liras ($160,165) on Meta starting from Dec. 12 last year, citing failures to fulfill obligations regarding user data collection.
The authority's investigation into Meta's practices extended to Facebook and WhatsApp, following data sharing introduced to its users through a software update in 2021.
The board found that Meta's actions hindered competitors' activities in social network services and online video advertising markets, creating barriers to market entry.
To address these violations, obligations were imposed on Meta to establish effective competition in the market. The company was required to report the measures it would take to end the violation by Dec. 9 last year.
