Competition Authority mulls penalty on WhatsApp

In an investigation by the Turkish Competition Authority regarding the obligation of WhatsApp users to share data, administrative fines against the companies concerned and an end to the data merging were requested.

The Competition Authority's investigation committee stated that WhatsApp and Facebook "have dominance" in the Turkish market and that the "accept or leave" mentality regarding showing consent to data sharing in order to use the WhatsApp service limited competition.

At the oral defense meeting, Competition Board Chairman Birol Küle and the members asked, "Is the imposition of the update due to market power? Why did you bring the condition that you did not bring in other countries to Türkiye?"

In response to the board's questions, WhatsApp representatives claimed that "there is not enough data to show that they are in a dominant position in Türkiye," pointing out that the update is a global application and defended that there Türkiye had not been prioritized.

The board will decide within 15 days whether to impose penalties on WhatsApp and Facebook.

WhatsApp had informed its users in Türkiye at the beginning of 2021 that they must consent to the sharing of WhatsApp data with Facebook companies due to the updating of the terms of use and privacy policy, or else they would not be able to use WhatsApp as of Feb. 8, 2021.

The Competition Authority convened upon this decision and stopped this practice of WhatsApp and decided to open an investigation.

TURKEY,