The Turkish Competition Board (the “Board”) has imposed interim measures on Meta Platforms, Inc., Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms İstanbul Bilişim Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi (collectively, “Meta”) in connection with amendment to the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms that barred third-party general-purpose generative AI chatbots and assistants from using WhatsApp where AI was the primary service offered to users.1
The Board found strong indications that Meta’s conduct may amount to an abuse of dominance under Article 6 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”). It accordingly ordered Meta to establish conditions permitting third-party general purpose generative AI chatbots and assistants to offer their AI services through WhatsApp without rendering such provision practically or economically unviable. On the same date, the Board initiated a full investigation into whether Meta’s conduct infringes Article 6 of the Competition Law.