Meta has temporarily suspended Threads in Turkey following an order from the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA).

With effect from 29 April, the technology giant announced the shutdown in response to the trade body issuing an interim order that prevented data sharing between Threads and Instagram, a decision which Meta disagreed with.

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Meanwhile, the company claims it has complied with the Turkish legal standards and plans to appeal the decision.

In a blog post, the social media giant revealed there is no impact to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or any other Meta services in Turkey or Threads in other countries.

It also gave users the option to choose whether to deactivate but not delete their Threads profile, or to delete their profile. If a user decides to deactivate their profile, then their posts and interactions with other people’s posts will become visible again if Threads returns to the country.

Meta said: “The TCA recently issued an interim order prohibiting the sharing of data between Threads and Instagram. We disagree with the interim order, we believe we are in compliance with all Turkish legal requirements, and we will appeal.

“The TCA’s interim order leaves us with no choice but to temporarily shut down Threads in Turkey. We will continue to constructively engage with the TCA and hope to bring Threads back to people in Turkey as quickly as possible.”