Meta Temporarily Halts Threads in Turkey Due to Regulatory Dispute

Meta will temporarily suspend Threads in Turkey on April 29. The American company is taking this action because of a measure imposed by the Turkish regulator at the end of March, which prohibits data exchange between Instagram and Threads. Despite this, Meta asserts that it is in compliance with local regulations.

The American parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among others, has stated in a press release that it intends to challenge the decision made by the Turkish competition authority. As a result, it is temporarily halting the use of the social media platform in the country. Meta plans to engage in discussions with the regulator and hopes to make Threads available again in Turkey as quickly as possible. Turkish Threads users will receive notification about the temporary suspension, with the option to either deactivate or permanently delete their accounts. The timeline for when Threads will be accessible again in the country remains unclear. For now, all other Facebook services will continue to be available in Turkey.

The Turkish Competition Authority initiated an investigation into Meta's dominant market position in the country back in December 2023. In March, the authority expressed concerns regarding data sharing between Instagram and Threads, suggesting that merging the data from these apps could potentially violate competition laws and harm the market. Meta introduced Threads as a competitor to X (the former Twitter) last year. Users can register for the app using their Instagram account. Threads also launched in Europe last December, garnering 829,000 users in the Netherlands by January.