Turkish competition board fines $18.6 million on Meta

Turkish competition board fines $18.6 million on Meta: Competition authority of Turkey has imposed monetary penalty of 346.72 million lira ($18.63 million) on Meta Platforms (Facebook).

The Turkish regulator said the company held a dominant position in personal social networking services and online video advertising and had obstructed competitors by merging data collected through its core services Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Reason: For violating competition law.

The firm has obstructed its competitors operating in social network services and online advertising markets as it merged data collected through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The fine was imposed according to the 2021 annual income of the company.

Turkey’s competition authority said Meta must act to reinstate competition in these markets and prepare annual reports about the steps it will take for the next five years. It said the fine was based on the company’s 2021 income and the company could object to the decision within 60 days. Social media companies have been a focus of attention in Turkey, which adopted a law last week that would jail journalists and social media users for up to three years for spreading material deemed “disinformation”.