The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Meta Platforms Inc., has been the subject of an investigation by the Turkish Competition Authority because of claims that it violated the Law on Protection of Competition.
A preliminary investigation was carried out, per a statement made public by the Competition Board website, to determine whether Meta Platforms Inc. had violated the applicable section of the law on the Protection of Competition by integrating the recently released Threads application with the Instagram network.
Following debates on the preliminary inquiry’s information, documents, and findings, the Board judged the evidence serious and adequate, resulting in an investigation into Meta Platforms Inc.
The announcement emphasises that the Competition Board’s decisions regarding investigations should not be interpreted as implying that the enterprises or business associations under investigation have violated the law, or that they are or will be subject to penal sanctions under the law.
Launched in July 2023, Threads is Meta’s new social network that aims to compete with Twitter (formerly known as X).
Since then, the network has gained more than 120 million users as of September, drawing attention from privacy and antitrust advocates.
After updating its privacy policy in 2021, Meta imposed controversial terms on Threads users that were similar to those on WhatsApp. This raised concerns in the online community.
PRIVACY AND SAFETY CONCERN
There are concerns about privacy and safety.
Users must agree a privacy policy outlining the broad collecting of their data, which includes health information, financial details, purchase history, location data, contacts, and search history, in order to access Threads.
The need for such much data collecting for Threads’ functionality remains debatable.
Meta has admitted to getting data about in-app and out-of-app purchases, demographics, and ad interactions from marketing suppliers and third-party entities, including app developers.
This information is kept private, with a major amount of Threads’ acquired data being used just within the Meta ecosystem.
UNCERTAIN FUTURES IN THE EU
The Brazilian Data Protection Authority investigated Threads’ data policy, raising concerns about the lack of clear aims for personal data processing and the potential inclusion of sensitive user information.
Furthermore, legislative hurdles in the European Union preclude Threads from being published, with uncertainty arising from the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The DMA delegates authority to gatekeepers such as Meta, which could have an impact on Threads’ regulation and service offerings in the EU.
Threads’ absence in the European Union is ascribed to the forthcoming Digital Markets Act (DMA), implying Meta’s likely status as a gatekeeper.
The EU’s regulatory monitoring of Threads remains unclear due to the DMA’s unclear legislation regarding the sharing and merging of personal data.
Reuters said the Turkish Competition Board penalised Meta $18.6 million in October 2022.