Facebook, Whatsapp and Madoka Turkey Bilişim Hizmetleri will give an oral defense in front of the Chairman and members of the Competition Board and answer the questions after the written defenses within the scope of the investigation carried out regarding whether they violated the competition. The final decision about the companies in question will be announced to the public within 15 days.
EXHIBITION INVESTIGATION
At the beginning of 2021, WhatsApp informed its users that due to the updating of the terms of use and privacy policy, they must consent to the sharing of WhatsApp data with Facebook companies in order to continue using WhatsApp, otherwise they will not be able to use WhatsApp as of February 8, 2021. Millions of Turkish users, who did not want to share their personal data with Facebook companies, started a unique digital migration and moved from Whatsapp. Upon these developments, the Competition Board launched an ex officio investigation into Facebook and WhatsApp in January 2021 and stopped the data sharing obligation imposed on WhatsApp users. Facebook Inc., Facebook Ireland Ltd., WhatsApp Inc. and WhatsApp LLC (together ‘Facebook’) in order to determine whether they violated Article 6 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition. In the announcement regarding the investigation, it was stated that this update of Whatsapp means that more data is collected, processed and used by Facebook, and it was decided to stop the conditions for its users on the grounds that it could cause serious and irreparable damages until the end of the investigation.
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STOP DATA SHARING
Competition AuthorityFollowing the investigation and the interim injunction decision, WhatsApp had informed the Competition Authority that the update would not come into effect for any user in Turkey, including the users who approved the update.
IF THERE IS A VIOLATION, IT WILL BE LOOKED
Competition Authority, Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.), Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (formerly Facebook Ireland Limited), WhatsApp LLC and Madoka Turkey Bilişim Hizmetleri Ltd. Sti. The oral defense meeting will be held on 23 August in the investigation carried out to determine whether they violated Article 6 of the Law No. 4054, and that the complainant and third parties who want to attend this meeting should submit information and documents regarding the investigation in a petition by 16 August. he wanted. In another announcement made later, it was announced that the oral defense would be held on October 11. Today, at 10.30, the companies in question will defend themselves against the allegations of the investigation committee and answer the questions of the committee in front of the chairman and members of the Competition Board. An investigation was opened against Meta Platform, Meta Platform Ireland, WhatsApp and Madoka Turkey Bilişim Hizmetleri companies to determine whether they violated Article 6 of the Competition Law, titled ‘Abuse of Dominant Position’. The aforementioned article prohibits a company from abusing its dominant position, either alone or through agreements with others or through joint actions.
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