ANKARA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's Competition Board has placed an interim injunction against social media giant META, citing potential abuse of dominance related to its Threads and Instagram platforms, the regulatory body announced on Monday.
The preliminary ruling targets META's practice of combining user data from Threads profiles linked to Instagram accounts without explicit user consent.
The authority's decision is aimed at halting the integration of data between Instagram and Threads to prevent any further potential violation of competition laws and market damage. This interim measure will stay effective until a conclusive verdict is reached.
Furthermore, the board has imposed a provisional daily fine of 4.8 million lira (approximately 148,000 U.S. dollars) on META in a separate probe.
This investigation, initiated in 2021, concluded that META had unlawfully merged data across its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp services.
Consequently, an administrative fine of 346.7 million lira was levied against the company, with directives to rectify the infringement and foster market competition.
Despite the deadline for compliance having passed on Dec. 9, 2023, META's proposed corrective measures were deemed inadequate by the authority. As a result, the Board has now instituted a daily administrative penalty on META following the lapse of the stipulated period. ■
