Türkiye is reportedly planning new rules to rein in the dominance of major tech firms through a regulatory approach similar to that of the European Union, according to a report on Monday.
The bill, set to be submitted to Parliament soon, would prevent technology companies such as Apple, Google's parent Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com from favoring their own services in search engines, app stores or marketplaces, senior Turkish officials told Bloomberg.
The report said the bill is backed by the ruling party and was prepared in collaboration with the country's antitrust authority.
Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue, added the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
The move comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and the EU over digital regulations.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act, or DMA, was enacted in May 2023 and aims to curb anti-competitive practices by imposing obligations on "gatekeeper" platforms. It aims to curb the power of Big Tech and ensure a level playing field for smaller rivals.
Initially, the EU designated six gatekeepers – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok's parent ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft – under the Digital Markets Act, adding later online reservations provider Booking to the list. In total, 24 core platform services provided by those gatekeepers have been designated, according to the European Commission.
Moreover, tech companies are required to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) that came into effect last year.
Türkiye's proposal aligns with the EU’s approach, but according to Bloomberg, it could strain the nation’s trade ties with Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the EU’s DMA, calling it "overseas extortion" targeting American tech firms. In response, he has threatened to impose tariffs.
Individual European countries have, however, also taken action against Big Tech, focusing on issues such as commercial practices, concerns related to the abuse of dominant position in digital advertising, and intellectual property rules, among others.
Under the proposal in Türkiye, closed ecosystems like Apple’s would be required to let users install third-party apps from outside of their platforms, the officials told Bloomberg.
In Apple’s case, this means allowing downloads to iPhones and iPads from outside the App Store, a long-contested question but similar to how Google allows sideloading on Android devices.
Additionally, the report said it would also restrict platforms from processing user data without explicit consent and limit how they use that data for commercial purposes.
Also, tech firms would be required to provide commercial users such as app developers, advertisers and marketplace sellers with clear information on service scope, performance, and pricing.
The proposal is still subject to revisions before being enacted, and its final provisions could change during the legislative process.
