Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced plans to temporarily suspend its Threads app in Turkey starting April 29, 2024.
This decision comes after a dispute with the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) regarding data-sharing practices between Threads and Instagram.
The TCA alleges that Meta is abusing its market dominance by combining user data from both platforms without obtaining explicit consent.
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In a blog post addressing the situation, Meta disagreed with the TCA’s interim order, asserting compliance with all Turkish legal requirements and announcing plans to appeal the decision.
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However, the company stated that it had no choice but to comply with the order and temporarily suspend Threads in Turkey. Meta aims to engage with the TCA in hopes of reinstating Threads in the country swiftly.
For users of Threads in Turkey, Meta will notify them of the impending shutdown within the app before April 29. Users will have the option to either deactivate their profiles, preserving their data for potential reactivation if Threads returns to Turkey, or delete their profiles entirely.
Additionally, users with deactivated profiles can download their posts and preserve their content through Meta’s ‘Download Your Information’ tool at any time.
This is not the first time Meta has faced regulatory issues in Turkey. In 2022, the company received an $18.6 million fine for merging user data across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Threads, launched in 2023, allows users to share close-knit updates with their Instagram connections. While it has amassed 130 million users globally, critics have pointed out the requirement for an Instagram account to use Threads.
Turkish regulators initiated a renewed investigation in December over the integration of Threads with Instagram, culminating in the TCA’s interim order.
Meta emphasizes its obligation to work with the TCA and hopes to bring the app back to Turkish users soon. The ultimate goal is to ensure transparency and user privacy in social media platforms.
