The Competition Authority made a statement today and “Meta company’s temporary fine has been finalized as approximately 552 million TL” said.
The detailed statement made by the institution on this subject is as follows: happened: “In the decision of the Competition Board dated 20.10.2022 and numbered 22-48-706-299, it was determined that META complicates the activities of its competitors operating in social networking services and online display advertising markets by combining the data it collects from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services and creates an obstacle to market entry. META was given an administrative fine of 346 million TL. The Board also obliges META to submit to the Authority what measures it will take within 1 month following the notification of the reasoned decision in order to eliminate the violation and ensure effective competition in the market, and to fulfill the measures presented within 6 months and submit a periodic report to the Authority once a year for 5 years. brought. As one of these obligations, the Board asked META to obtain re-approval from the users who gave their consent before applying the obligation within the scope of the harmonization measure for the merging of their data between Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services.
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The period given to META to submit the measures in question expired on 11.12.2023. The suggestions submitted by META to the Authority were discussed at the Board’s meeting dated 21.12.2023 and the harmonization measures were decided in the decision dated 20.10.2022 and numbered 22-48-706-299, “The necessary measures to end the specified violation and ensure the establishment of effective competition in the market, after the notification of the reasoned decision.” It has been evaluated that it is not sufficient to meet the obligation of “submitting it to the Institution within 1 (one) month at the latest from the date of application”.
In its assessment, the Board focused on the screenshot that will be shown to users who have approved the merging of their data between Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services before the implementation of the harmonization measure, while requesting a new confirmation regarding their preferences. In this context, the harmonization measure offered by META;
- It should be designed to guide users to consent to data merging,
- Not being transparent enough,
- It does not contain information that users can use the application even if they refuse to combine data between their accounts,
- It does not provide the same easy screen for users who do not want to consent to data merging and for users who want to consent.
It was evaluated that it was not sufficient to address the anti-competitive concerns addressed within the scope of the investigation, based on the reasons given. For this reason, with the decision of the Board dated 21.12.2023 and numbered 23-60/1162-417, the economic integrity of META was transferred within the scope of the file starting from 12.12.2023 within the scope of subparagraph (a) and second paragraph of the first paragraph of Article 17 of Law No. 4054. It has been decided to impose an administrative fine of five ten thousandths of the gross revenues of 2022 for each day until the compliance measures that will eliminate anti-competitive concerns are entered into the Institution’s records.
In the ongoing process, the compliance measures included in the petition finally submitted by META on 05.04.2024 were discussed at the Board meeting dated 24.04.2024 and aimed to end the violation foreseen in the Board’s decision dated 20.10.2022 and numbered 22-48-706-299 and to establish effective competition in the market. It was deemed sufficient to provide For this reason, the administrative fine applied to META starting from 12.12.2023 was terminated as of 04.04.2024, and it was decided with the number 24-20/467-197 to impose a total administrative fine of 551,557,589.86 TL for 115 days.
According to the compliance measures offered by META, personal data of users will not be combined by META unless users combine their accounts in Facebook and Instagram applications through the “Accounts Center”. Users who have previously merged their accounts will be presented with a new “Confirmation Screen” as of June. Thus, users will be able to easily separate the account(s) they have previously combined as they wish. In addition to the right of choice they have gained, users will be informed in detail on this screen about which data will be combined and how. “If users change their mind later, they will have the opportunity to combine the data regarding the account or accounts they want again through the “Accounts Center”.”