Turkey fines Meta $37.2 million over data-sharing practices

Turkey’s competition board has levied a hefty fine of 1.2 billion lira ($37.20 million) against Meta Platforms on Wednesday, following the conclusion of two separate investigations into the tech giant’s data-sharing activities involving its social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

Investigations into Threads and Instagram integration

The investigations, which began in December, focused on potential violations of competition law stemming from the integration of Threads and Instagram.

In response to these concerns, the competition board in March implemented interim measures to prevent data sharing between the two platforms.

Consequently, Meta announced the temporary shutdown of Threads in Turkey last month to comply with these measures.

Breakdown of fines

The board detailed that the fine includes 898 million lira for issues related to the compliance process and investigations across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Additionally, a separate fine of 336 million lira was imposed specifically for violations involving Threads.

User consent and data usage transparency

According to the competition board’s decision, users will now have the option to merge their personal data across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp but only with explicit consent.

Furthermore, users will be informed about how their data is being used and will have the opportunity to adjust their privacy settings later via an “accounts centre” on each platform.

Additional penalties for non-compliance

In a related development, the board had previously fined Meta $160,000 per day back in January for failing to provide sufficient documentation in another investigation.

Moreover, a daily fine of 4.8 million lira was imposed in March concerning a notification message about data-sharing practices. Both sets of daily penalties concluded on May 3.

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