Threads Temporarily Blocked in Türkiye, What’s Up?

Morrissey Technology – Social media platform Threads will reportedly begin temporarily shutting down starting this month in Turkey because it is deemed not to comply with the country’s privacy regulations. This is because Threads is too integrated with Instagram. The reason is that to create a Threads profile account, users must have an Instagram account. And if you delete one of them, the other profiles will also be deleted by default.

Thus, this raises privacy issues that force user data connections without any other choice. In response to this problem, Meta added the option to separate the two profiles between Instagram and Threads. But unfortunately the meta step is considered too late by Turkish regulations.

Based on the latest order from the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) on April 29, Threads will be temporarily blocked in Turkey. Meta has also notified millions of Threads users to delete or deactivate their profiles before that date.

“To comply with the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA), we will close Threads in Turkey starting Monday April 29. We know this will be very disappointing for many people in Turkey who are involved in Threads with their communities,” wrote Meta on its official blog FOR4D.

This is the latest privacy battle between Meta and Turkish authorities. In 2022, Meta was fined USD 18.6 million in Turkey for combining user data on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta also faces a cumulative daily fine of USD 160,000 for failing to comply with previous data sharing orders.

Meta also said that they are taking steps to minimize disruption. However, the shutdown highlights Meta’s ongoing struggle to balance data usage policies across regions. While its popularity remains high, aggressive integration has also led to greater scrutiny FOR4D.