In the investigation about META, which was initiated in response to the suspicions that META abused its dominant position by means of linking Threads and Instagram, an interim measure has been taken (Interim Measure Decision).

It has been concluded that META’s combination of the data of the users who created Threads profiles based on their Instagram accounts without taking consent will lead to irreparable harms. The following observations have been made:

• As META has been active in the market for long years, it owns comprehensive and detailed data.
• META has large and diverse user base, which makes it attractive for advertisers.
• This enables META to spare more resources to develop its services, complicates competitors’ access to advertisers and thus financial resources; within this framework META’s practices in the market constitute a barrier to entry.
• Moreover, META operates as an ecosystem with its core services and related services, which enables META to transfer the power and accumulation obtained from each service to another service and increases its market power

Within the framework of the existing findings, it has been decided that an interim measure shall be imposed to prevent data combination, which can occur as a result of the data transfer mechanism between Instagram and Threads.

For the text of the decision, click