Meta Announces Temporary Shutdown of Threads in Turkey
The suspension is to comply with an interim order from the Turkish Competition Authority.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced that it will "temporarily" halt its Threads short-messaging service in Turkey, effective April 29th, in response to an order from Ankara's competition watchdog regarding data-sharing practices.[1]
The Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) issued an interim ruling prompting Meta's action, which, according to the company's statement on its website, will have no impact on its other services like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp within the country.
“We disagree with the interim order, we believe we are in compliance with all Turkish legal requirements, and we will appeal,” Meta said — although it had “no choice but to temporarily shut down Threads” in Turkiye.
Threads, introduced by Meta as a competitor to X (formerly Twitter), has garnered 130 million monthly users globally since its launch last year. While the service was available in Turkey from its inception, users in the European Union (EU) had to wait for several months for Meta to develop a version compliant with data protection and competition regulations.
In light of the temporary shutdown, Turkish users of Threads have the option to deactivate their profiles, preserve their existing content, or delete their profiles entirely. Notably, if a user chooses to deactivate their profile, their posts and interactions with other users' posts will become visible again if Threads resumes operations in Turkey.
Additionally, individuals with deactivated profiles can download their posts and maintain their content using Meta's Download Your Information tool at any time.