ANKARA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's Competition Authority announced on Wednesday that it had fined Meta Platforms Inc. 346.72 million liras (18.63 million US dollars) for violating competition law.

The company merged the data collected from its three applications -- Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which has complicated the activities of its competitors and created barriers to market entry, the Turkish authority said in a statement.

The company held a dominant position in personal social networking services, consumer communication services and online video advertising markets, the watchdog noted.

The fine was based on the company's 2021 income and the company could object to the decision within 60 days, it added.

The authority launched an investigation in 2021 when WhatsApp, a messaging application, forced its Turkish users to share their data, including phone numbers and locations, with Facebook, or they would not be able to use WhatsApp.

WhatsApp groups created by Türkiye's public institutions have moved to the local messaging apps after the privacy policy update.

The Turkish government has been tightening its regulations on social media companies in the past few years.