Home Trade & Tech Turkey Fines Meta $37 Million After Data Sharing Probe

Turkey Fines Meta $37 Million After Data Sharing Probe

This follows two investigations by Turkey's competition board into Meta in December over a possible violation of competition law by linking its social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Instagram.
Edited By
Ramananda Sengupta
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Turkey Fines Meta

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s competition board fined Meta Platforms 1.2 billion lira ($37.20 million) on Wednesday after two separate investigations on data-sharing in its Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads platforms.

The board launched an investigation into Meta in December over a possible violation of competition law by linking its social media platforms Threads and Instagram. In March, it imposed an interim measure on Meta meant to hinder data sharing between those two platforms.

Meta said last month it would temporarily shut down Threads in Turkey to comply with the interim order.

On Wednesday, the board it imposed a fine of 898 million lira for the compliance process and the investigations launched into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. An additional 336 million lira fine was added for a separate investigation into Threads.

Users will be able to merge personal data between Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp only after they consent. They will be able to change their settings later, if needed, using an “accounts centre” on the platforms, the board ruled.

In January, Turkey fined Meta $160,000 per day for failing to provide sufficient documentation as part of another previous investigation. It also imposed a daily fine of 4.8 million lira per day in March over a notification message about data-sharing.

Both those penalties ended May 3.

In 2022, the board also decided to fine Meta 346.72 million lira (Approx 11 million USD) for violating competition law.
(REUTERS)

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Ramananda Sengupta
In a career spanning over three decades and counting, I’ve been the Foreign Editor of The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and The New Indian Express. I helped set up rediff.com’s editorial operations in San Jose and New York, helmed sify.com, and was the founder editor of India.com.

My work has featured in national and international publications like the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Global Times and The Asahi Shimbun. My one constant over all these years, however, has been the attempt to understand rising India’s place in the world.

On demand, I can rustle up a mean salad, my oil-less pepper chicken is to die for, and depending on the time of the day, all it takes to rock my soul is some beer and some jazz or good ole rhythm & blues.

Talk to me about foreign and strategic affairs, media, South Asia, China, and of course India.
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