Turkish Regulator Fines Meta Platform Inc. IDR 287 Billion for Violating the Competition Law

JAKARTA - Turkey's competition authority has on Wednesday 26 October fined Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc, 346.72 million lira (IDR 287 billion) for violating competition laws.

Turkish regulators say Meta has held a dominant position in private social networking services and online video advertising. They are also accused of blocking competitors by aggregating data collected through its core services Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

In 2021, competition authorities launched investigations into WhatsApp, and then Facebook Inc., after the messaging app updated its terms of service saying it had the right, from its owner Facebook Inc and its subsidiaries to collect user data such as phone numbers and location, changes that were rolled out online. global.

A spokesperson for Meta Platform said the company disagreed with the findings of the investigation and would consider all options, including making an appeal.

"The 2021 update does not require users to agree to allow Facebook to collect user data. It provides our users with clearer and more detailed information about how and why we use the data," the spokesperson said. The spokesman also added that there were no changes to WhatsApp's data sharing in practice with the update.

Turkey's competition authority said Meta should act to restore competition in this market and prepare an annual report on the steps to be taken for the next five years.

They said the fine was based on the company's 2021 earnings and the company could object to the decision within 60 days.

Social media companies have been the focus of attention in Turkey, which adopted a new law last week that would jail journalists and social media users for up to three years for spreading material deemed "disinformation".

Analysts say social media companies are unlikely to fully comply with laws in Turkey, which require them to remove such material and share user data with authorities.