Turkey moves against Meta over Threads-Instagram data sharing

ISTANBUL (Reuters): Turkey’s competition authority imposed on Monday an interim measure on Meta Platforms Inc meant to hinder data sharing between the Instagram and Threads platforms as it investigates possible abuse of the company’s dominant market position.

In December, the authority launched an investigation into Facebook parent Meta over a possible violation of competition law by linking its social media platforms Instagram and the newer Threads.

The authority said the interim measure would remain in place until a final decision is made, since the data obtained and merged through these two apps could “violate competition law and cause irreparable damage” in the market.

Separately, the Turkish authority fined Meta 4.8 million lira ($148,000) daily as part of a separate investigation over a notification message that the company sends users about the sharing of data.

The notification about data sharing between the company’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services did not provide sufficient information and was not transparent enough, it said.

The user notification was also designed to guide users to approve data sharing which was not deemed sufficient to address anti-competition concerns, it added.

A Meta spokesperson did not immediately comment on the decisions.