Competition Board’s Decision on Meta Platforms dated 20.10.2022 and numbered 22-48/706-299

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Uçar Law & Consultancy Office

Uçar Law & Consultancy Office

Rekabet Kurulu Meta Ceza

In order to inform the readers about the decision and the decision making process whic is about the administrative fine given on the grounds of distortion of competition by combining the data collected regarding the Meta Platforms dated 20/10/2022 and numbered 22-48/706-299 published on 26/10/2022 hereby, this information note has been prepared.

Before the decision we will focus on, the Competition Board, in its decision dated 11/01/2021, made an examination regarding the conditions that Facebook brought in Turkey for the use of WhatsApp users’ data for other services as of 08/02/2021 and stated that Facebook should suspend the new conditions involving data sharing as an interim measure to Article 9 of the Law on the Protection of Competition, in case of serious and irreparable damages until the final decision to be taken.

In the investigation Competition Board evaluated that the economic integrity of formerly Facebook Inc. and now Meta Platforms Inc. dominates the personal purpose social networking services, consumer communication services and online display advertising markets.

In this regard, It is decided that by combining the data collected from the services offered by Meta Platforms Inc., it causes the deterioration of competition by creating obstacles to entry and making the activities of its competitors operating in online display advertising markets difficult. Furthermore, It violates Article 6 of the Law on the Protection of Competition.

In Article 6 of the Law on the Protection of Competition, “It is illegal and prohibited for one or more undertakings to abuse their dominant position in a market for goods or services in the whole or in a part of the country, either alone or through agreements with others or jointly.” regulation exists and the Competition Board concluded that Meta Platforms Company abused its power in the market and that this situation adversely affected the market order, and decided that the violation had taken place, and accordingly, an administrative fine of 346,717.193,40-TL was imposed on Meta Platforms, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, WhatsApp LLC. severally.

In addition, in its decision, Meta Platforms and its stakeholder companies were given a deadline to submit and implement the necessary measures to end this violation and establish effective competition to the Competition Authority.

After the decision, Spokesperson of Meta Platforms asserted the Company did not agree with the determination of the Competition Authority and that individuals were given the right to have control over their own data, and announced that all options regarding the decision would be appraised.

Candan A. VARLIK (Apprentice Attorney)

Uçar Law & Consultancy Office

Diclaimer:

This article is prepared by Uçar Law & Consultancy Office for information purposes only, and the information and visual materials contained in it cannot be used, reproduced, published, transmitted to a third party or translated without prior written permission from us. This legal memorandum is not a comment or legal opinion and was prepared on the publication date and our attorney’s office is not responsible for its failure to
update continuously.”

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