Meta does On April 29, following an interim order from the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA). Against automatic data exchange with Instagram. The TCA ruled that linking Threads and Instagram without user choice would “cause irreparable harm” and that Meta had “abused its dominant position” in the industry with the practice. The TCA also suggested that the relationship exists primarily to enhance the company’s “market power.”
Instead of making any changes to the region’s integration of Instagram and Threads, Meta is drawing on the nascent social media app. The company says it’s just a temporary measure as it looks to appeal the decision, but there’s no timetable for that. Meanwhile, Meta is suggesting that users in Turkey either cancel or delete their accounts entirely. Deactivators’ posts and interactions will be restored “if Threads returns to the country”.
Turkish regulators aren’t the only ones who think the automatic connection between Threads and Instagram is a little creepy at best. This has been a point of contention since the platform was launched last year. The apps were so intertwined that users couldn’t even delete their Threads account although Meta fixed it a few months ago.
Meta also started promoting Threads posts on Facebook and Instagram finally allows of “feature”. This is the type of automatic data exchange that overrides the TCA and leads to a final instruction.
Also, this is not the first regulatory battle between Meta and Turkey. The country fined Meta $18.6 million in 2022 for sharing data between its apps. . This allegedly violates the country’s competition laws. The country asked Meta to provide documents detailing its efforts to stop violating those laws, but Turkish regulators said there were no explanations. Thus, the country punished Meta with additional fines, .
