The Turkish Presidency will switch to the domestic app BiP to inform journalists of the controversial new terms of use for WhatsApp.
The media office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would stop WhatsApp after the messaging app moved to oblige many of its users to agree to a controversial new privacy policy.
Presidential officials said in statements released on WhatsApp on Sunday that the media office will inform journalists via BiP, a unit of Turkish telecom company Turkcell, starting Monday.
After WhatsApp’s forced update of its privacy policy this week, users in Turkey objected to it on Twitter with the hashtag #DeletingWhatsapp.
According to Turkish state media citing Turkcell, BiP has gained more than 1.12 million users in just 24 hours, and has more than 53 million users around the world.
The alternatives made to WhatsApp’s terms and services will take effect from February 8 and allow it to share data with its parent company Facebook and other affiliates.
Users must agree to the new terms in order to be able to continue using the app after the deadline.
On Saturday, the President of the Presidential Digital Transformation Office, Ali Taha Koc, criticized the new WhatsApp service terms and exemption from new data-sharing rules for users in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
He called on the Turks to use “national and local” applications such as BiP and Dedi.
“Distinguishing between EU member states and others in terms of data privacy is unacceptable! As we mentioned in the Information and Communication Security Guide, foreign-origin applications carry significant risks in terms of data security,” Koc said in a tweet.
That’s why we need to protect our digital data with local and national programs and develop it in line with our needs. Let’s not forget that Turkey’s data will remain in Turkey thanks to local and national solutions. “
New laws
The company said the updated terms will allow additional sharing of information between WhatsApp and Facebook and its other apps like Instagram and Messenger such as contacts and profile data but not the content of messages that remain encrypted.
Facebook aims to monetize WhatsApp by allowing companies to contact their customers via the platform and sell their products directly using the service, as they are already doing in India.
Facebook has come under increasing pressure from regulators as it tries to integrate its services.
In 2017, the European Union imposed a fine of 110 million euros (then $ 120 million) on the US social media giant for providing incorrect and misleading information about its 2014 WhatsApp acquisition of the ability to link accounts between services.
Federal and US regulators have accused Facebook of using its WhatsApp and Instagram acquisition to crush competition and filed antitrust lawsuits last month aimed at forcing the company to withdraw from it.
In November, Turkey imposed a fine on global social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, 10 million liras ($ 1.18 million) each for failing to comply with the new social media law.
The new law, which went into effect in October, requires platforms with more than one million daily users in Turkey to appoint a representative responsible before Turkish courts, abide by orders to remove “offensive” content within 48 hours, and store user data inside Turkey.
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